Papilio palinurus

Papilio palinurus, the emerald swallowtail, emerald peacock, or green-banded peacock, is a butterfly of the genus Papilio of the family Papilionidae. It is native to Southeast Asia, but is regularly kept in butterfly houses around the world.

Papilio palinurus has a wingspan reaching about 8–10 centimetres (3.1–3.9 in). The dorsal sides of the wings are covered by a powder of green scales and the background vary from dark greenish to black, with broad bright emerald green metallic bands. The undersides are black with orange, white and blue spots along the edges of hindwings, that show extended tails at the end. Seitz- P. palinurus. Similar to P. buddha, the band of both wings narrower, the distal-marginal area of the forewing dusted with green, the hindwing with large green submarginal spots; the grey band of the forewing beneath is placed very close to the cell and is basally concave. The earlier stages are not known. The butterfly according to Martin flies in wooded country and is very shy and agile; it occasionally comes into gardens and is fond of feeding at the flowers of Ixora, Lantana, etc., it is also often found at damp places on the forest-paths. Hauxwell mentions that it has a habit of flying close over the water like a swallow, dipping its body in and then hurrying away. Burma to Sumatra and Nias, northwards to the Philippines. — palinurus F. (= regulus Stoll, brama Guer., tubero Fruhst., nikagoras Fruhst.) (35 b, c). The band of the forewing is very obliquely placed, being posteriorly at most 5 mm from the end of the submedian; both it and the band of the hindwing vary in width in all localities. In most of the specimens from North Borneo the band is slightly blue: ab. solinus Fruhst. The under surface varies especially in the size of the submarginal spots of the hindwing. Burma, Tenasserim, Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo. — adventus Fruhst., from Nias, differs in both sexes principally in the larger submarginal spots of the hindwing beneath. — angustatus Stgr. Upper surface of the hindwing in male and female more broadly black between the discal band and the submarginal spots than in palinurus and adventus; beneath the pale band of the forewing is less curved and the pale marginal area of the hindwing broader than in these forms.Palawan. — daedalus Fldr. (35 c). The largest form. The green discal band of the upper surface broader than in the preceding subspecies, that of the forewing less oblique; otherwise similar to angustatus. Philippines, probably on all the islands, according to Semper almost all the year round, principally in May and October. - nymphodorus Fruhst., from Bazilan, is said to be distinguished by a broad discal band on both wings and very large green submarginal patches on the hindwing. I have before me only an abnormal specimen, from which I can form no opinion as to the constancy of the characters given.Karl Jordan in Seitz.

The flight of these butterflies is swift and quite fast. Caterpillars feed on plants of genus Euodia belonging to the Rutaceae, commonly known as the rue or citrus family.

There are several subspecies (from Burma, Borneo, Indonesia, Nias and the Philippines).

• P. p. palinurus – Burma, Malaysia Borneo
• P. p. auffenbergi Späth, 1992 – Simeulue, Indonesia
• P. p. nymphodorus (Fruhstorfer) – Island of Basilan
• P. p. adventus (Fruhstorfer) – Island of Nias
• P. p. daedalus (C. & R. Felder, 1861) – Philippines
• P. p. angustatus (Staudinger, 1888) – Island of Palawan, Philippines

The genus name Papilio comes from the Latin word papilio meaning butterfly. The species name palinurus derives from Palinurus, the name of the pilot of Aeneas's boat in Virgil's Aeneid.

This species can be found primarily in Southeast Asia, particularly in Burma – Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Indonesia (Simeulue, Island of Nias), Philippines (Basilan, Palawan, Balabac, Cuyo, Busuanga, and Dumaran).

Papilio palinurus lives in Asian primary forests.

It is a member of species group plalinurus

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• Papilio blumei Boisduval, 1836 – peacock or green swallowtail
• Papilio buddha Westwood, 1872 – Malabar banded peacock
• Papilio crino Fabricius, 1793 – common banded peacock
• Papilio palinurus Fabricius, 1787 – emerald swallowtail

The iridescent green sheen of the bands of this butterfly is not produced by pigments, but is structural coloration produced by the microstructure of the wing scales. They refract the light and give rise to blue and yellow visible reflections, producing the perception of green color when additively mixed.

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  Specimen from the Musée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourg
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  Can appear blue with certain lighting
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  Ventral view
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  Underwing

• Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach (1998). Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the World Part I (1), Papilionidae Papilionidae I: Papilio, Subgenus Achillides, Bhutanitis, Teinopalpus. Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach. Keltern: Goecke & Evers; Canterbury: Hillside BooksISBN 9783931374624
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• Biolib
• Funet.fi

• Insecta pro
• Encyclopedia of Life
• Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory