Papilio charopus


Papilio charopus, the tailed green-banded swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus Papilio that is found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.

Subspecies

  • Papilio charopus charopus
  • Papilio charopus juventus Le Cerf, 1924

    Habitat

Highland forests.

Status

Fairly common and not threatened.

Description

The ground colour is black. The markings are metallic blue. The blue band reaches the hind wing margin in area lb.Seitz- Apex of the forewing produced and the distal margin therefore distinctly
excised at the end of veins 5 and 6; forewing beneath with four large yellowish submarginal spots in cellules 1 b—4; the blue median band of the upper surface gradually and very considerably widened posteriorly, so that the spots of cellules 2 and 8 of the hindwing are very long and cover much more than half their cellules; the submarginal spots of the hindwing beneath of the ground-colour and consequently only indicated by their silver rings. — Ashanti to the Cameroons.

Taxonomy

Papilio charopus belongs to a clade called the nireus species group with 15 members. The pattern is black with green or blue bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails, lack tails with the exception of this species and Papilio hornimani. The clade members are: