Papilio nobicea

"Volta swallowtail" redirects here. For the other butterfly with this common name, see Papilio zenobia.

Papilio nobicea, the Volta swallowtail, is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in Ghana and Togo.^[3] The habitat consists of forests in mountainous terrain.

Volta swallowtail
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. nobicea
Binomial name
Papilio nobicea Suffert, 1904 [1] [2]
Synonyms
Papilio zenobia nobicea Suffert, 1904 Papilio maesseni Berger, 1974

Taxonomy

It is a member of the zenobia species group. In the zenobia group the basic upperside wing pattern is black with white or yellowish bands and spots. The underside is brown and basally there is a red area marked with black stripes and spots. In the discal area there is a yellowish band with black stripes and veins. Females resemble butterflies of the genus Amauris. Both sexes lack tails.

The clade members are:

• Papilio cyproeofila Butler, 1868
• Papilio fernandus Fruhstorfer, 1903
• Papilio filaprae Suffert, 1904
• Papilio gallienus Distant, 1879
• Papilio mechowi Dewitz, 1881
• Papilio mechowianus Dewitz, 1885
• Papilio nobicea Suffert, 1904
• Papilio zenobia Fabricius, 1775

Description

Papilio nobicea is very similar to Papilio zenobia but has pure white discal bands with no cream tinge. (Larsen, 2005). In the Global Butterfly Information System nobicea Suffert, 1904 is treated as a junior synonym of Papilio (Druryia) zenobia Fabricius, 1775.

See also

• Volta River – River in West Africa