Papilio nireus

"Green-banded swallowtail" redirects here. For the other butterfly with this common name, see Papilio phorcas.

Papilio nireus, the green-banded swallowtail, narrow-banded blue swallowtail, or African blue-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Green-banded swallowtail
both P. n. lyaeus Semliki Wildlife Reserve' Uganda
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. nireus
Binomial name
Papilio nireus Linnaeus, 1758 [1]
Synonyms
Papilio erinus Gray, [1853] Papilio nireus f. nora Strand, 1915 Papilio nireus f. dimidiatus Le Cerf, 1924 Papilio nireoides Braun, 1932 Papilio nireus nireus ab. bedoci Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus ab. punctata Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus ab. seeldrayersi Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus ab. pierardi Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus ab. falcata Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus f. houzeaui Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus f. tenuivittata Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus var. xerophila Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus micronireus Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus ab. lyaeoides Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus nireus f. cedeae Sala, 1992 Papilio lyaeus Doubleday, 1845 Papilio lyaeus aelyus Suffert, 1904 Papilio mantitheus Ehrmann, 1920 Papilio nireus-lyaeus f. callistria Le Cerf, 1927 Papilio nireus pseudonireus f. pseudonireoides Storace, 1952 Papilio donaldsoni Sharpe, 1896 Papilio nireus var. abyssinica Cannaviello, 1900 Papilio nireus pseudonireus ab. pseudolyaeus Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus pseudonireus ab. anticemaculata Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus pseudonireus ab. minor Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus pseudonireus f. semivittata Storace, 1952

Description

The wingspan is 75–90 millimetres (3.0–3.5 in) in males and 85–95 mm (3.3–3.7 in) in females. Forewing above at most with two blue submarginal spots in cellules 7 and 8; rarely in the female with several yellow ones; the blue (male) or greenish (female) median band is 2–7 mm broad at the hindmargin of the forewing and 4–12 mm in the middle of the hindwing, and is only a little widened posteriorly; the spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing does not completely cover the base of the cellule and the narrow spot in cellule lc does not reach the cell; forewing beneath almost always entirely without submarginal spots. [Nominate] Median band of the forewing above well developed, the spots of cellules 2—4 obliquely cut off distally; the discal spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing is very long and produced farther towards the anal angle than the spot in cellule 1 c. Sierra Leone to Angola and Uganda. — lyaeus Dbl. The median band narrower, but complete; the spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing is shorter and does not reach so far towards the anal angle as the one in 1 c. Larva above green, beneath whitish, with a whitish oblique longitudinal streak at each side on segments 7 and 8 and a girdle of ring-shaped spots on the third segment. Cape Colony to Angola and British East Africa. male ab. aelyus Suff. only differs from lyaeus in the discal spot in cellule 1 a of the forewing being entirely wanting and the one in cellule 1 b divided into two; German East Africa.— pseudonireus Fldr. (= donaldsoni Em. Sharpe). The median band is altogether absent on the forewing or is only represented by a few very small spots; on the hindwing it is formed as in lyaeus. Somali¬ land and Abyssinia. ^[2]

Biology

It flies year-round, with peaks from November to February.^[3]

The larvae feed on Calodendrum capense, Vepris species, and Citrus species.^[1]

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:^[1]

• P. n. lyaeus Doubleday, 1845 – ^[4] narrowly green-banded swallowtail (Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland)
• P. n. nireus Linnaeus, 1758 – (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, southern Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, western Tanzania, Zambia)
• P. n. pseudonireus C. & R. Felder, 1865 ^[5] – (northern Kenya, northern Uganda, southern Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea)

• 
  P. n. nireus dorsal side
  Bobiri Forest, Ghana
• 
  P. n. nireus ventral side
  Bobiri Forest, Ghana
• 
  P. n. lyaeus in flight, Semliki Wildlife Reserve, Uganda
• 
  P. n. pseudonireus, Harenna Forest, Ethiopia
• 
  P. n. pseudonireus, Harenna Forest, Ethiopia

Taxonomy

Papilio nireus 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 Papilio charopus and Papilio hornimani. 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