Parides montezuma, the Montezuma's cattleheart, is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is native to the Americas.
Description The upperside of the wings is black, without a band and with one row of red crescents along the hindwing margin. The underside of the wings is almost the same as the upperside.Lewis, H. L., 1974 Butterflies of the World Page 26, figure 15 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
Distribution and habitat P. montezuma is found in dry forests from Mexico to Costa Rica, occurring from sea level to . It is rare in Costa Rica, being more common northward. It is not threatened.
Host plants Aristolochia acanthophylla Aristolochia foetida – Jalisco Dutchman's pipe Aristolochia grandiflora – pelican flower Aristolochia micrantha Aristolochia orbicularis
Parides montezuma is a member of the ascanius species groupEdwin Möhn, 2007 Butterflies of the World, Part 26: Papilionidae XIII. Parides Verlag Goecke & Evers Verlag Goecke & Evers ("Fringe-spots white. Hindwing with submarginal spots and usnally also diseal 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 epithet honours the Aztec king Montezuma.
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