Atrophaneura priapus

Atrophaneura priapus, the Priapus batwing or white-head batwing, is a swallowtail butterfly found in Burma, Malaysia, Sumatra, and Java. The subspecies A. p. hageni was named to honour Hermann August Hagen. It may be a full species.

Priapus batwing
A. p. hageni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Papilionidae
Genus:
Atrophaneura
Subgenus:
Atrophaneura
Species:
A. priapus
Binomial name
Atrophaneura priapus
(Boisduval, 1836)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio priapus Boisduval, 1836
  • Papilio dilutus Fruhstorfer, 1895
  • Papilio hageni Rogenhofer, 1889

A. priapus is a large butterfly (11–14 cm wingspan). The forewings are black with the wing veins bordered by white. The hindwings are black and have a wavy margin. There is a broad, slightly yellowish white band on the hindwing. This band contains large black spots. In males there is a white area with red edge next to the body. The underside is similar to the upperside, but the white area is missing. The abdomen is yellow and black above. The head (hence the common name white-head batwing) and the underside of abdomen are white or yellow. The thorax is black.

Subspecies
  • A. p. priapus west Java
  • A. p. dilutus (Fruhstorfer, 1895) east Java
  • A. p. hageni (Rogenhofer, 1889) Sumatra, Indonesia

Biology

Atrophaneura priapus is a Troides mimic and is, itself mimicked by females of Papilio forbesi.

Taxonomy

A. priapus, A. priapus hageni and A. sycorax, are often confused and may represent one, two or three good species although the hindwing pouches and androconial scales are variously modified.[2]

Status

It is not known to be threatened, though the status is uncertain.[3]

References
  1. Atrophaneura at Funet
  2. Parsons, M.J. (1996). Gondwanan evolution of the troidine swallowtails (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae): Cladistic reappraisals using mainly immature stage characters, with focus on the birdwings Ornithoptera Boisduval Bulletin of the Kitakyushu Museum of natural History 15: 43-118, 34 figures, 2 tables pdf Archived 2014-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN 978-2-88032-603-6 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.


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