Papilio hesperus, the black and yellow swallowtail or Hesperus swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa. It is monomorphic, meaning there is only one phenotype in the population of this species. The dorsal and ventral sides of its wings are practically identical due to the wing's translucence.
Description Papilio hesperus is a very large butterfly with a wingspan of 110 to 130 mm , with a very concave outer edge of the forewings and scalloped hindwings with a club-shaped tail . The wings are brown to black decorated with pale yellow spots, part of which forms a band with brown veins from half of the forewings to their inner edge and then from the costal edge to the inner edge of the hindwings. Two spots are on the hindwings near the tail.Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter
Biology The larvae feed on Beilschmiedia species, including Beilschmiedia ugandensis.
Taxonomy Papilio hesperus is the nominal member of the hesperus species group. The members of the clade are: Papilio hesperus Westwood, 1843 Papilio euphranor Trimen, 1868 Papilio horribilis Butler, 1874 Papilio pelodurus Butler, 1896
Subspecies Papilio hesperus hesperus (Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Congo Republic, Uganda, north-western Tanzania, northern Zambia) Papilio hesperus feae Storace, 1963 Storace, L. 1963 Osservazioni sul Papilio hesperus Westwood Mem. Soc. Ent. Italiana 42 : 98-101 Equatorial Guinea) Papilio hesperus sudana Gabriel, 1945 Gabriel, A.G. 1945. Notes on some Papilionidae (Lep. Rhopalocera), with descriptions of five new subspecies. Entomologist 78: 151-152. (southern Sudan)
Habitats Congolian forests and surrounding ecoregions.
Biogeographic realm Afrotropical realm.
References
Carcasson, R.H., 1960 "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society pdf Key to East Africa members of the Papilionidae, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society
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