Papilio pelaus

Papilio pelaus, the prickly ash swallowtail, is a species of Neotropical swallowtail butterfly found in Jamaica, Hispaniola, Cuba and Puerto Rico.^[1]

Papilio pelaus
P. p. pelaus at Strawberry Hill, Jamaica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. pelaus
Binomial name
Papilio pelaus Fabricius, 1775
Synonyms
Papilio ornofagus Weidemeyer, 1863 Papilio imerius Godart, 1819 Papilio augias Ménétriés, 1832 Heraclides pelaus (Fabricius, 1775)

Description

There are few differences between the sexes, the markings of the female are only a little wider and more numerous than those of the male. The body is black with some red dots. The forewings are black with a white median stripe on the obverse and underside. The hindwings are extended by a spatula-shaped tail and have white markings on the edge as well as a row of red and white lunulae, which are more numerous in the female. The forewing often has a row of small white dots on the underside.

Seitz- With spatulate tail. Sexes similar, but the markings in the female somewhat enlarged and on the hindwing more numerous than in the male. Black, forewing with oblique white band from the costa to the anal angle: hindwing with complete (female) or incomplete (male) row of pale red submarginal spots: beneath there are usually also small discal spots present, which sometimes in the female also occur above.^[2]

Subspecies

• Papilio pelaus pelaus (Jamaica)
• Papilio pelaus imerius Godart, 1819 (Hispaniola) the band of the forewing is narrower anteriorly, on the other hand its last spot is on the whole broader than in the nominate and the spots on the hindwing are smaller.
• Papilio pelaus atkinsi Bates, 1935 (Cuba)
• Papilio pelaus puertoricoensis (Möhn, 1999) (Puerto Rico)

Taxonomy

Papilio pelaus is a member of the anchisiades species group

See also

• List of butterflies of Jamaica