Papilio charopus

Tailed green-banded swallowtail
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. charopus
Binomial name
Papilio charopus Westwood, 1843
Synonyms
Papilio charopus juventus Le Cerf, 1924

Papilio charopus, the tailed green-banded swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus Papilio that is found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.^[1]

Subspecies

• Papilio charopus charopus (Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea: Bioko)
• Papilio charopus juventus Joicey & Talbot, 1927 (Congo Republic, western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi)

Habitat

Highland forests (Congolian forests, Lower Guinean forests).

Status

Fairly common and not threatened.

Description

The ground colour is black.The markings are metallic blue. The blue band reaches the hind wing margin in area lb.

Taxonomy

Papilio charopus belongs to a clade called the nireus species group with 13 members. The pattern is black with green or blue bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails lack tails with the exception of this species Papilio charopus and Papilio hornimani. The clade members are:

• Papilio aristophontes Oberthür, 1897
• Papilio nireus Linnaeus, 1758
• Papilio charopus Westwood, 1843
• Papilio chrapkowskii Suffert, 1904
• Papilio chrapkowskoides Storace, 1952
• Papilio desmondi van Someren, 1939
• Papilio hornimani Distant, 1879
• Papilio interjectana Vane-Wright, 1995
• Papilio sosia Rothschild & Jordan, 1903
• Papilio thuraui Karsch, 1900
• Papilio ufipa Carcasson, 1961
• Papilio wilsoni Rothschild, 1926

References

• Carcasson, R.H. (1960). "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society pdf Key to East Africa members of the species group, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society