Parides
Parides, commonly called cattlehearts, is a genus of swallowtail butterflies in the family Papilionidae. They are found in the Americas. The host plants of their caterpillars are Aristolochia. The genus includes medium-sized butterflies. The wings are predominantly silky black or dark brown, with bright green, red, or yellow spots.Females have white and bright pink spots, the size and number of which vary greatly. Almost all species do not have tails on their hindwings, with the exception of Parides gundlachianus from Cuba. In some species, the inner edge of the hindwing is expanded like an extra, pale lobe.
Like those of many other swallowtails, the caterpillars live on the pipevine genus Aristolochia,. The caterpillars absorb toxins from these poisonous plants, ensuring that both the caterpillars and adult butterflies are well protected by the toxin. The characteristic colours signal this to birds. This has led to the species being somewhat very similar to each other in appearance and difficult or impossible to distinguish in the field.
Species
Listed alphabetically within groups according to Möhn et al., with annotations according to Wilts et al. :species group: ascanius
species group: klagesi
species group: chabrias
species group: aeneas
species group: sesostris
species group: ''anchises''