Papilio hornimani, the Hornimans green-banded swallowtail or Horniman's swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus Papilio that is found in the highland forests of Kenya and Tanzania.Papilio hornimani, Funet.fi
The larvae feed on Vepris and possibly Citrus species.
Subspecies Papilio hornimani hornimani (Kenya, Tanzania) Papilio hornimani mwanihanae Kielland, 1987Kielland, 1987, J. 1987 New taxa of Rhopalocera from Tanzania (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). Lambillionea 87 (9-10): 114-126 (Tanzania) Papilio hornimani mbulu Kielland, 1990Kielland, 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363 (Tanzania)
Description The ground colour is black. The markings are metallic blue. The blue band does not reach the hind wing margin in area 1b.Seitz-Only differs from Papilio charopus in that the median band of the upper surface is only a little widened posteriorly, so that the spots of cellules 2 and 8 of the hindwing cover but a third or a quarter of the cellules and are scarcely twice as long as broad; the submarginal spots of the hindwing beneath in the male yellow, very prominent, in the female as in charopus. — German East Africa.Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.
Taxonomy Papilio hornimani belongs to a clade called the nireus species group with 15 members. The pattern is black with green bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails, lack tails with the exception of this species and Papilio charopus. The clade members are:
Papilio aristophontes Oberthür, 1897 Papilio nireus Linnaeus, 1758 Papilio charopus Westwood, 1843 Papilio chitondensis de Sousa & Fernandes, 1966 Papilio chrapkowskii Suffert, 1904 Papilio chrapkowskoides Storace, 1952 Papilio desmondi van Someren, 1939 Papilio hornimani Distant, 1879 Papilio interjectana Vane-Wright, 1995 Papilio manlius Fabricius, 1798 Papilio microps Storace, 1951 Papilio sosia Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 Papilio thuraui Karsch, 1900 Papilio ufipa Carcasson, 1961 Papilio wilsoni Rothschild, 1926
Etymology They are named for Frederick John Horniman.
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 species group, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society)