Papilio gallienus

Papilio gallienus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Tribe:	Papilionini
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. gallienus
Binomial name
	Papilio gallienus; Distant, 1879
Synonyms
	Papilio cypraeafila gallienus Distant, 1879; Papilio gallienus gallienus ab. vreuricki Dufrane, 1936; Papilio gallienus gallienus ab. ochreata Dufrane, 1936; Papilio gallienus ab. hulstaerti Berger, 1950;

Papilio gallienus, the narrow-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the central part of the Republic of the Congo.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the zenobia species group. In the zenobia group the basic upperside wing pattern is black with white or yellowish bands and spots. The underside is brown and basally there is a red area marked with black stripes and spots. In the discal area there is a yellowish band with black stripes and veins. Females resemble Amauris butterflies. Both sexes lack tails.

The clade members are:

Papilio cyproeofila Butler, 1868
Papilio fernandus Fruhstorfer, 1903
Papilio filaprae Suffert, 1904
Papilio gallienus Distant, 1879
Papilio mechowi Dewitz, 1881
Papilio mechowianus Dewitz, 1885
Papilio nobicea Suffert, 1904
Papilio zenobia Fabricius, 1775

Description

It is very similar to Papilio cyproeofila but has cream-yellow rather than cream-white bands, and the hindwing band is much narrower than in P. cyproeofila and curved on the inner edge (Larsen, 2005).