Parides alopius, the white-dotted cattleheart, is an endemic Mexican butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It has also strayed once into the United States in southeastern Arizona.Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman (2003). Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin, New York, NY.
Description The upperside of the wings is black with the hindwing having two rows of submarginal spots: the first row, white; and the second row, pink. Males have fewer white spots than females. The underside of the wings are similar except the hindwing pink spots are more conspicuous. It has a wingspan of .A full description is provided by Rothschild, W. and Jordan, K. (1906)Rothschild, W. and Jordan, K. (1906). A revision of the American Papilios. Novitates Zoologicae 13: 411-752. (Facsimile edition ed. P.H. Arnaud, 1967) and online Möhn, 2006, Butterflies of the World 26: 4, pl. 8, f. 7-12 [Edwin Möhn, 2006 Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the world Part XXVI (26), Papilionidae XIII. Parides. Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Keltern : Goecke & Evers ; Canterbury : Hillside Books. ISBN 978-3-937783-27-7 (Supplement 13 in English - "Parides -an unending quest" by Racheli)]
Flight This species has been seen on the wing from March to November."White-dotted Cattleheart" , Butterflies and Moths of North America
Habitat The white-dotted cattleheart may be encountered in pine-oak forests.
Life cycle The larva is ringed with black and white bands and has yellow and reddish-brown fleshy projections. Each side of the body contains red, orange and white spots. The chrysalis is shaped very similar to that of the pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor). It is blue green with the head, parts of the thorax, and abdomen a bright yellow green. It is unknown whether the chrysalis has a brown form or not."Parides alopius", Mariposa Mexicanas
Host plants The only recorded host plant for the white-dotted cattleheart is Watson's pipevine (Aristolochia watsonii).
Status It is uncommon and known from very few localities, but is not known to be threatened.Tyler, H.A. (1975). The Swallowtail Butterflies of North America. Naturegraph Publishers, viii + 192 pp. Parides alopius is a member of the ascanius species groupMöhn, Edwin (2006). Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the World Part XXVI (26), Papilionidae XIII. Parides. Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Keltern: Goecke & Evers; Canterbury: Hillside Books. (Supplement 13 in English - by Racheli) ("Fringe-spots white. Hindwing with submarginal spots and usnally also discal spots or dots, or a discal band; mostly with tail"). A quadrate whitish spot in space 2 of the forewings is quite peculiar of the ascanius groupRacheli, Tommaso an Olmisani. Luca 1998. A cladistic analysis of the genus Parides Hubner, , based on androconial structures (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). Neue Ent. Nachr. (Marktleuthen),41:119-131.pdf
The members are Parides agavus (Drury, 1782) Parides alopius (Godman & Salvin, ) Parides ascanius (Cramer, ) Parides bunichus (Hübner, ) Parides gundlachianus (C. & R. Felder, 1864) Parides montezuma (Westwood, 1842) Parides phalaecus (Hewitson, 1869) Parides photinus (Doubleday, 1844) Parides proneus (Hübner, )
Etymology The specific name comes from the classical tradition. Alopius was the son of Antiope the daughter of Thespius.
References
External links
Parides alopius , Butterflies of America