Parides photinus, the pink-spotted cattleheart, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It was first described by Edward Doubleday in 1844.
Description Parides photinus has a wingspan reaching . Adults are black with the hindwing having a blue-green metallic sheen, especially in the male. There are no wing bands. Two rows of red spots are found along the hindwing margin.Lewis, H. L. (1974). Butterflies of the World Page 26, figure 21. The submarginal spots are strongly arched except for the upper two or three and the anal one; the latter is distinct on the upperside only in the female. The hindwings have short tails. The undersides are similar to the upsides. The larvae feed on Aristolochia grandiflora and A. asclepiadifolia.Jordan, K., in Seitz, A. ( 1907) . The Macrolepidoptera of the World. 5: The Macrolepidoptera of the American faunistic region. Papilionidae 1-45. A full description is provided by Rothschild, W. and Jordan, K. (1906)Rothschild, W. & Jordan, K. (1906). "A revision of the American Papilios". Novitates Zoologicae. 13: 411-752. (Facsimile edition ed. P.H. Arnaud, 1967)
Distribution and habitat This species can be found from Mexico to Costa Rica, in Nicaragua and in Honduras. It lives in forests, where it is common to abundant. Its range extends from the sea level to 5000 feet (1500 metres).
Gallery
Taxonomy Parides photinus is a member of the ascanius species group Edwin 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 unusually 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) – Agavus cattleheart Parides alopius (Godman & Salvin, ) – white-dotted cattleheart Parides ascanius (Cramer, ) – Fluminense swallowtail Parides bunichus (Hübner, ) Parides gundlachianus (C. & R. Felder, 1864) – Cuban cattleheart Parides montezuma (Westwood, 1842) – Montezuma's cattleheart Parides phalaecus (Hewitson, 1869) Parides photinus (Doubleday, 1844) Parides proneus (Hübner, )
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