Papilio hesperus

Papilio hesperus, the black and yellow swallowtail or Hesperus swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa. It is monomorphic, meaning there is only one phenotype in the population of this species.^[4] The dorsal and ventral sides of its wings are practically identical due to the wing's translucence.^[5]

Papilio hesperus
Mounted
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. hesperus
Binomial name
Papilio hesperus Westwood, 1843 [1][2][3]
Synonyms
Princeps hesperus Papilio embodinus Ehrmann, 1921 Papilio horribilis var. calabaricus Distant, 1879 Papilio hesperus maculatissimus Suffert, 1904 Papilio hesperus f. additionis Strand, 1913 Papilio hesperus f. bukoba Richelmann, 1913 Papilio hesperus ab. dualana Strand, 1914 Papilio hesperus var. kassaiensis Moreau, 1917 Papilio hesperus f. insolitus Le Cerf, 1924 Papilio hesperus f. rufopuncta Stoneham, 1944 Papilio hesperus hesperus ab. lagai Dufrane, 1946 Papilio hesperus hesperus ab. blariauxi Dufrane, 1946 Papilio hesperus hesperus ab. cuvelieri Dufrane, 1946 Papilio hesperus hesperus f. mariae Dufrane, 1953 Papilio hesperus hesperus f. punctata Dufrane, 1953

Description

Papilio hesperus is a very large butterfly with a wingspan of 110 to 130 mm , with a very concave outer edge of the forewings and scalloped hindwings with a club-shaped tail . The wings are brown to black decorated with pale yellow spots, part of which forms a band with brown veins from half of the forewings to their inner edge and then from the costal edge to the inner edge of the hindwings. Two spots are on the hindwings near the tail.^[6]

Biology

The larvae feed on Beilschmiedia species, including Beilschmiedia ugandensis.

Taxonomy

Papilio hesperus is the nominal member of the hesperus species group. The members of the clade are:

• Papilio hesperus Westwood, 1843
• Papilio euphranor Trimen, 1868
• Papilio horribilis Butler, 1874
• Papilio pelodurus Butler, 1896

Subspecies

• Papilio hesperus hesperus (Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Congo Republic, Uganda, north-western Tanzania, northern Zambia)
• Papilio hesperus feae Storace, 1963 ^[7] Equatorial Guinea)
• Papilio hesperus sudana Gabriel, 1945 ^[8] (southern Sudan)

Habitats

Congolian forests and surrounding ecoregions.

Biogeographic realm

Afrotropical realm.