Papilio thoas

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: Heraclides
Species: Papilio thoas
Name

Papilio thoas Linnaeus, 1771

Type locality: Suriname.

Lectotype: BMNH. male ♂. (lectotype designated by Shiraiwa et al., 2014: 95).
References

Shiraiwa, K., Cong, Q. & Grishin, N.V. 2014. A new Heraclides swallowtail (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae) from North America is recognized by the pattern on its neck. ZooKeys 468: 85–135. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.468.8565 Reference page.

Papilio thoas, the king swallowtail or Thoas swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in the southernmost United States, Mexico, Central America and South America (as far south as Argentina and Uruguay). The species is easily confused with the giant swallowtail, which it closely resembles in both larval and adult stages. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of citrus plants (Rutaceae). They have also been reported as feeding on a member of the genus Piper.[1]

Adult Thoas swallowtails fly year round in the tropics, feeding on nectar of a variety of flowers, including Lantana, Stachytarpheta, and Bougainvillea among other species. The wingspan is 100–130 mm.
Subspecies

Listed alphabetically.[2]

P. t. autocles Rothschild & Jordan, 1906
P. t. brasiliensis Rothschild & Jordan, 1906
P. t. cynrias Ménétriés, 1857
P. t. nealces Rothschild & Jordan, 1906
P. t. oviedo Gundlach, 1866
P. t. thoantiades Burmeister, 1878
P. t. thoas Linnaeus, 1771

References

http://lepidopteraresearchfoundation.org/journals/05/PDF05/05-220.pdf[bare URL PDF]
Papilio, funet.fi