Papilio mayo
| Andaman Mormon | |
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| Males | |
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| Species: | P. mayo
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| Binomial name | |
| Papilio mayo Atkinson, 1873
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Princeps mayo | |
The Andaman Mormon (Papilio mayo) is a species of swallowtail butterfly that is endemic to the Andamans. It is a species that is protected by Indian Law. The scientific name honours Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was assassinated at Port Blair the year before the butterfly was discovered.
Description
- See glossary for terms used
The male Andaman Mormon resembles the Blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor) while the female resembles the female form alcanor of the Great Mormon (Papilio memnon) and is a mimic of the Andaman Clubtail (Losaria rhodifer).
The male has the upper side of wings rich velvety black. The fore wing has a subterminnal series of greenish-yellow irrorated internervular streaks, sometimes very faint. The hind wing has a very broad discal band pale blue, composed of broad outwardly more or less emarginate streaks in interspaces 1 to 7; cilia: fore wing black, hind wing black alternated with white in the interspaces. Underside opaque blue-black. Fore wing with a dark red streak at base and the subterminal internervular streaks as on the upperside but grey and more prominent. Hind wing with 4 or 5 small patches of dark red at base, a complete dark red ocellus in interspaces 1 and 2, and indistinct subterminal very variable markings of red in the other interspaces, sometimes formed into half ocelli in interspaces 3 and 4; within this line of markings there is an incomplete discal lunular series of mixed red and blue scaling. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen black.[1]
The female closely resembles the tailed form of the Female of Papilio memnon race agenor, but on the disc of the fore wing the internervular broad pale streaks are nearly white, and on the hind wing the white streaks in the interspaces beyond and outside the cell shorter and strongly tinged with red along their edges, while the dark red is more extended, especially in the tornal area where it covers the terminal three-fourths of interspaces 1 and 2, interrupted in 1 by a comparatively round oval black spot and in 2 by a broad elongate black patch ; apical half of tail vermilion-red, whitish at apex.[1]
Range
Andaman Islands of India in the Bay of Bengal.
Status
Not Common. It is protected by law in India. Males are reported to be more common than females.[2]
References
Other reading
- Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India
- Gay,Thomas; Kehimkar,Isaac & Punetha,J.C.(1992) Common Butterflies of India. WWF-India and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India.
- Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.