Papilio (Pterourus) garamas

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: Papilio
Subgenus: Papilio (Pterourus)
Species: Papilio (Pterourus) garamas
Name
Papilio (Pterourus) garamas Geyer, 1829

Papilio garamas, commonly known as the magnificent swallowtail, is a species of Neotropical swallowtail butterfly found in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica.[1]

Description

A large butterfly with a wingspan of 80 to 110 millimetres. The females are dimorphic, either resembling the male or dark forms lacking the cream median and postdiscal bands contrasting with deep black ground colour.
Subspecies
Papilio garamas abderus

Papilio garamas garamas (western Mexico)
Papilio garamas abderus Hopffer, 1856 (eastern Mexico) generally seen as conspecific with P. garamas but sometimes treated as a distinct species (Collins & Morris 1985:87, Hancock 1983, Llorente-Bousquets et al. 1997).
Papilio garamas electryon Bates, 1864 (Guatemala to Honduras) may be placed in abderus
Papilio garamas syedra Godman & Salvin, 1878 (Panama, Costa Rica) may be placed in abderus
Papilio garamas baroni Rothschild & Jordan, 1906 (Mexico) may be placed in abderus

Taxonomy

Papilio garamas 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

Papilio garamas 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.
Status

Not uncommon and not regarded as threatened. If the garamas subspecies other than garamas garamas are subspecies of abderus then garamas is a Mexican endemic, but a taxonomic clarification is required.

Etymology

Garamas was the son of Acacallis (Greek: Ἀκακαλλίς) in Greek mythology.
References

Papilio at Funet

Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN 978-2-88032-603-6 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Hancock, D.L. (1983). Classification of the Papilionidae (Lepidoptera): a phylogenetic approach. Smithersia 2: 1-48.
Llorente-Bousquets, J.E., Onate-Ocana, L., Luis-Martinez, A. & Vargas-Fernandez, I. 1997. Papilionidae y Pieridae de México: distribución geográfica e ilustración. Comisión Nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad (CONABIO), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico; [x], 231 pp.
Lewis, H. L., 1974 Butterflies of the World ISBN 0-245-52097-X Page 24, figure 20