Swallowtail butterfly

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This article is about the insect. For the 1996 film by Shunji Iwai, please see Swallowtail Butterfly (film).

Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio rutulus

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Suborder:	Ditrysia
Superfamily:	Papilionoidea
Family:	Papilionidae Latreille, 1802

Type species

Papilio machaon
(Old World Swallowtail)

Subfamilies and genera

There are 26 genera and about 605 species:

Subfamily Baroniinae
- Baronia
Subfamily Parnassiinae
- Allancastria
- Archon
- Bhutanitis
- Hypermnestra
- Luehdorfia
- Parnassius
- Sericinus
Subfamily Papilioninae
- Atrophaneura
- Battus
- Byasa
- Chilasa
- Cressida
- Euryades
- Eurytides
- Graphium
- Iphiclides
- Lamproptera
- Losaria
- Meandrusa
- Mimoides
- Ornithoptera
- Pachliopta
- Papilio
- Parides
- Pharmacophagus
- Protesilaus
- Protographium
- Teinopalpus
- Trogonoptera
- Troides

Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies which form the family Papilionidae. There are at least 550 species, and though the majority are tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica. The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of Australia (genus Ornithoptera).^[1]

Swallowtails differ from all other butterflies in a number of anatomical traits. Most notably, their caterpillars possess a unique organ behind their heads, called the osmeterium. Normally hidden, this forked structure can be everted when the caterpillar is threatened, and emits smelly secretions containing terpenes. The adults are often tailed, giving the insect its name.

1 Classification
2 Swallowtails and Humans
3 Notable species
4 Notable species in Japan
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Classification

Papilio thoas

The genera of extant swallowtails are usually classified into three subfamilies, Baroniinae, Parnassiinae and Papilioninae, the latter two being further divided into tribes. The tribes recognized are Baroniini, Parnassiini, Zerynthiini, Luehdorfiini, Leptocircinini, Teinopalpini, Troidiini and Papilioniini. An additional subfamily Praepapilioninae, has a single extinct member, and is known only from a single fossil.^[2] A proposed phylogeny of the Papilionidae is given below:^[3]

Baroniinae

Parnassiinae

Papilioninae

Leptocircini

Teinopalipini

Troidini

	Papilionini

	? Praepapilio

Image:Parnassius pheobus.jpg

Small Apollo Parnassius phoebus

The Swallowtail butterflies in the tribe Papilionini number about 225 species and studied have been made on their host-plant coevolution and phylogeny. A study found that the Papilios are monophyletic and old morphological classifications where also found to be valid in that they formed clusters. Species belonging to the groups that use Rutaceae as host plants formed two groups corresponding to Old World and American taxa. Those that fed on Lauraceae and Magnoliaceae were found to form another cluster which includes both Asian and American taxa.^[4]

Image:Papilio homerus ulster.jpg

Papilio homerus, the largest Swallowtail in the Western Hemisphere

Swallowtail tribes Zerynthiini (Parnassiinae), Luehdorfiini (Parnassiinae) and Troidini (Papilioninae) almost exclusively use the Aristolochiaceae family as their host plants. Many species sequester aristolochic acids making them unpalatable, causing both the larval and adult stages to be unpalatable to predators.^[5]

The subfamily Baroniinae is represented by the sole representative species Baronia brevicornis. They are unique in the family to use the Fabaceae as their larval host plants.

The Apollos, Parnassiinae, are a distinctive group and all species are alpine and capable of living at high altitudes. Most species have two small reddish spots on their hindwings. The genera Parnassius and Hypermnestra were found to be extremely close based on molecular studies.^[6] After mating, the male Parnassines produce a glue like substance that is used to seal the female genital opening and prevent other males from mating.

The pupae are typically attached to the substrate attached by the cremaster but with head up held by a silk girdle. The apollos however pupate in debris on the ground and also build a loose cocoon. In the temperate regions the winters are passed in a pupal diapause stage.

[edit] Swallowtails and Humans

Swallowtail butterflies, being large, colourful, and attractive, have been the target of butterfly collectors in earlier times. The largest of these, the Birdwing butterflies are particularly sought after and are cultured in butterfly farms for the purpose of collectors.

Many members of the family feed as larvae on plants of the Citrus family Rutaceae. Some of these attractive butterflies are therefore considered pests in Citrus orchards.

The Oregon Swallowtail Butterfly is the state insect of Oregon; the eastern tiger swallowtail is the state insect of Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Delaware. (See List of U.S. state butterflies)

[edit] Notable species

Image:Osmeterium.JPG

Second or third instar Papilio glaucus caterpillar showing osmeterium

Anise swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon
Black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes
Clouded apollo, Parnassius mnemosyne
Eastern tiger swallowtail, Papilio glaucus
Pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor
Scarce swallowtail, Iphiclides podalirius
Spicebush swallowtail, Papilio troilus
Western Tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus
Old World Swallowtail, Papilio machaon
Citrus swallowtail, Papilio demodocus
Apollo butterfly, Parnasius apollo

[edit] Notable species in Japan

Image:Papilio xuthus 070707.jpg

Asian swallowtail

Asian Swallowtail, Papilio xuthus Linnaeus, 1767. The most Japanese recognize this species as common swallowtail.
Old World Swallowtail, Papilio machaon Linnaeus, 1758.
Red Helen, Papilio helenus Linnaeus, 1758.
Spangle, Papilio protenor Cramer, 1775.
Chinese Peacock, Papilio bianor Cramer, 1777.
Papilio maackii Ménétries, 1859.
Great Mormon, Papilio memnon, Linnaeus, 1758.
Atrophaneura alcinous/Byasa alcinous Klug, 1836.
Common bluebottle,Graphium sarpedon Linnaeus, 1758.

[edit] References

^ Reed, Robert D. and Sperling, Felix A. H. 2006. Papilionidae. The Swallowtail Butterflies. Version 07 July 2006. [1] in The Tree of Life Web Project, [2]
^ Durden, C.J., and H. Rose. 1978. Butterflies from the middle Eocene: the earliest occurrence of fossil Papilionidae (Lepidoptera). Pearce-Sellards Ser. Tex. Mem. Mus. 29: 1-25.
^ Reed, Robert D. and Sperling, Felix A. H. 2006. Papilionidae. The Swallowtail Butterflies. Version 07 July 2006. [3] in The Tree of Life Web Project, [4]
^ Aubert J, Legal L,Descimon H,Michel F. 1999 Molecular phylogeny of swallowtail butterflies of the tribe Papilionini (Papilionidae, Lepidoptera). Mol Phylogenet Evol.12(2):156-67
^ von Euw, J., T. Reichstein, and M. Rothschild. 1968. Aristolochic acid in the swallowtail butterfly Pachlioptera aristolochiae. Isr. J. Chem. 6: 659-670.
^ Katoh T, Chichvarkhin A, Yagi T,Omoto K. 2005 Phylogeny and evolution of butterflies of the genus Parnassius: inferences from mitochondrial 16S and ND1 sequences. Zoolog Sci.22(3):343-51