Papilio menatius

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Superfamilia: Papilionoidea

Familia: Papilionidae
Subfamilia: Papilioninae
Tribus: Papilionini
Genus: Pterourus
Species: Papilio menatius
Subspecies: P. m. cleotas – P. m. coelebs – P. m. coroebus – P. m. ctesiades – P. m. eurotas – P. m. laetitia – P. m. lemoulti – P. m. lenaeus – P. m. menatius – P. m. morelius – P. m. syndemis – P. m. victorinus – P. m. vulneratus

Papilio menatius coelebs Rothschild & Jordan, 1906 (Peru)

Name

Papilio menatius Fabricius, 1793
Synonyms

Papilio amphissus Hopffer, 1865
Papilio archytas Hopffer, 1865
Papilio coristheus Boisduval, 1836
Papilio laetitia Butler, 1872
Papilio lenaeus forma heteromorpha Niepelt, 1927
Papilio vulneratus Butler, 1872

References

Lamas, G., 2004, Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera; Checklist: Part 4A; Hesperioidea-Papilionoidea

Vernacular names
English: Menatius Swallowtail

Papilio menatius is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae.

Description

Papilio menatius is a large butterfly with wingspan of about 95–110 millimetres (3.7–4.3 in). Uppersides of the wings are black with yellowish bands and yellowish submarginal lines of spots.

The subspecies P. m. menatius present in Guyana is black with white spots at the center of the forewings. On the hindwings there are a submarginal row of red lines and a line of spots partly red and partly white. Subspecies P. m. victorinus is treated as a species by some authors.

The larvae of P. m. victorinus feed on Persea americana. Adults feed on flower nectar of various plants, including Lantana and Impatiens species.
Taxonomy

Papilio menatius is in the subgenus Pterourus Scopoli, 1777 which also includes the species groups: troilus species group, glaucus species group, the zagreus species group and the scamander species group. Papilio menatius is a member of the homerus species group. The members of this clade are:

Papilio cacicus Lucas, 1852
Papilio euterpinus Salvin & Godman, 1868
Papilio garamas (Geyer, [1829])
Papilio homerus Fabricius, 1793
Papilio menatius (Hübner, [1819])
Papilio warscewiczii Hopffer, 1865

and the enigmatic Papilio judicael known only from a handful of specimens and either a valid species from the Andean region, or a hybrid P. menatius × P. warscewiczii.
Subspecies

The following subspecies of Papilio menatius are recognised:

P. m. menatius (Surinam, French Guiana)
P. m. cleotas Gray, 1832 (Brazil (Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro) to Argentina)
P. m. coelebs Rothschild & Jordan, 1906 (Peru)
P. m. coroebus C. Felder & R. Felder, 1861 (Colombia, Venezuela)
P. m. ctesiades Rothschild & Jordan, 1906 (Peru, Brazil (Amazonas, São Paulo))
P. m. eurotas C. Felder & R. Felder, 1862 (Ecuador, Peru)
P. m. laetitia Butler, 1872 (Costa Rica, Panama)
P. m. lemoulti Rousseau-Decelle, 1933 (Venezuela)
P. m. lenaeus Doubleday, 1846 (Bolivia, Peru)
P. m. morelius Rothschild & Jordan, 1906 (western Mexico)
P. m. syndemis (Tyler, Brown & Wilson, 1994) (Colombia)
P. m. victorinus Doubleday, 1844 (eastern Mexico to Nicaragua) - victorine swallowtail
P. m. vulneratus Butler, 1872 (Costa Rica)

Distribution

This species can be found in southern North America and in most of South America (Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Suriname, Guyana, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Peru).

References

Savela, Markku (March 20, 2019). "Papilio menatius (Hübner, [1819])". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
"Papilio menatius (Hübner, [1819])". Insecta.pro. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
"Pterourus m. menatius (Hübner, [1819)"]. Butterflies of America. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
Lewis, H. L. (1974). Butterflies of the World. ISBN 0-245-52097-X Page 24, figure 18 (ssp. cleotas): page 25 figure 14 (ssp. victorinus).