Graphium illyris

Graphium illyris
	Top view
	Bottom view - MHNT
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Pancrustacea
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Graphium
Species:	G. illyris
Binomial name
	Graphium illyris; (Hewitson, 1873)
Synonyms
	Papilio illyris Hewitson, 1873; Papilio illyris f. stictica Le Cerf, 1924; Papilio (Cosmodesmus) illyris ab. addenda Dufrane, 1946; Papilio illyris flavisparsus Fruhstorfer, 1903; Papilio illyris hamatus Joicey & Talbot, 1918;

Graphium illyris, the cream-banded swordtail, is a forest butterfly of the swallowtail family (Papilionidae). It is native to the Afrotropical realm.

Description

The markings of the upper surface yellow; the median band curved slightly basad at the costal margin of the forewing and without spot in cellule 7; the tail of the hindwing only white at the extreme tip; the hindwing with red-yellow marginal lunules. Ashanti to the Congo. — ab. (var. ?) flavisparsus Fruhst. has the submarginal spots of the hindwing and the red spots on the under surface larger than in the normal form. Island of Fernando Po. External images from Royal Museum of Central Africa.

Habitat

Tropical and subtropical ecoregions.

Status and biology

It is an uncommon to rare species and is seasonal in West Africa (with adults on wing mainly in February and March). Males mud-puddle, and are attracted to rotten fish as well as perspiration on humans.

Subspecies

G. i. illyris (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, C.Ghana)
G. i. flavisparsus (Fruhstorfer, 1903) (Equatorial Guinea)
G. i. girardeaui (Guilbot & Plantrou, 1978) (Central African Republic)
G. i. hamatus (Joicey & Talbot, 1918) (Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Congo Republic, Tanzania)

Torben Larsen developed a species numbering system for his 2005 publication Butterflies of West Africa. The nominate subspecies is #30. The 'Larsen' numbers have since been used with permission in A Sharp Eye on Butterflies of Ghana.

Taxonomy

Graphium illyris is a member of the antheus - clade Graphium antheus, Graphium colonna, Graphium evombar, Graphium kirbyi, Graphium junodi, Graphium polistratus, Graphium illyris, Graphium gudenusi).

References

↑ Hewitson, 1873 Descriptions of two new butterflies from the west coast of Africa. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 9: 232-233.
↑ Graphium, Site of Markku Savela
↑ Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
↑ Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Leptocercini
↑ Fruhstorfer, 1903 Neue afrikanische Lepidopteren. Stettiner Entomologische Zeitschrift 64: 359-361.
↑ Guilbot, R., & Plantrou, J. 1978. Note sur Graphium illyris (Hewitson) et revision systematique de l’espece (Lep. Papilionidae). Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 83 (3-4): 68-73
↑ Joicey, J.J., & Talbot, G. 1918. New butterflies from Africa and the east. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917: 271-272
↑ Larsen, Torben B. (2005). Butterflies of West Africa. Stenstrup, Denmark: Apollo Books. ISBN 978-87-88757-43-9.
↑ Sharp, Charles J.; Sáfián, Sz. (2026). A Sharp Eye on Butterflies of Ghana. Oxford: Sharp Eye Publications and Hungarian Natural Heritage Trust. p. 21. ISBN 978-615-02-5911-6.

Sources

Guilbot, R. and Plantrou, J. (1978). Note sur Graphium illyris (Hewitson) et revision systematique de I'espece. Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique de France 83: 68–73.
Smith, C.R. & Vane-Wright, R.I. 2001 A review of the Afrotropical species of the genus Graphium (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera: Papilionidae) Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. Ent. Ser. 70 (2): 503-719

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[1] Hewitson, 1873 Descriptions of two new butterflies from the west coast of Africa. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 9: 232-233.

[funet-2] Graphium, Site of Markku Savela

[3] Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[ATBUT-4] Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Leptocercini

[5] Fruhstorfer, 1903 Neue afrikanische Lepidopteren. Stettiner Entomologische Zeitschrift 64: 359-361.

[6] Guilbot, R., & Plantrou, J. 1978. Note sur Graphium illyris (Hewitson) et revision systematique de l’espece (Lep. Papilionidae). Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 83 (3-4): 68-73

[7] Joicey, J.J., & Talbot, G. 1918. New butterflies from Africa and the east. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1917: 271-272

[8] Larsen, Torben B. (2005). Butterflies of West Africa. Stenstrup, Denmark: Apollo Books. ISBN 978-87-88757-43-9.

[9] Sharp, Charles J.; Sáfián, Sz. (2026). A Sharp Eye on Butterflies of Ghana. Oxford: Sharp Eye Publications and Hungarian Natural Heritage Trust. p. 21. ISBN 978-615-02-5911-6.