Hypermnestra helios
Encyclopedia
Hypermnestra helios is a species of swallowtail butterfly
belonging to the Parnassinae family and is the sole member of its genus
. It is found in Iran
, Afghanistan
, Pakistan
, Turkmenistan
, Kirghizstan, Tajikistan
, and Uzbekistan
. It is locally common in desert habitats.
Male upperside: white, with a slight cream-yellow tint. Fore wing: base densely, costal margin lightly, irrorated with black scales; cell with a transverse black median and a black apical spot, the latter extends from the costa along the discocellulars almost to the lower apex of cell; beyond the cell an oblique, short black bar, widened posteriorly and with three superposed red spots, the middle spot minute, sometimes absent; this is followed by an irregular subterminal black band, widened at the veins, widest near the costa, and gradually narrowed to a faint line posteriorly. In many specimens this band is not extended below vein 5, in others it reaches or almost reaches the tornal angle and is joined in its extension downwards to a prominent black transverse spot in interspace 3. Beyond this band the apex is marked with a small diffuse black patch, and the apices of the veins with black spots that are extended inwards to the subterminal band. Hind wing: base and dorsal margin broadly irrorated with black scales: a black upper discal and a subcostal spot, both generally centred with red; a subterminal series of slender black lunules, followed by a terminal row of transversely linear black spots ; the middle and postdiscal areas of the wing darkened by the markings of the underside that show through by transparency. Cilia of both fore and hind wings white alternated with black. Underside: ground-colour similar. Pore wing: markings as on the upperside, but the cellular spots, the spot in interspace 3 and the short bar beyond apex of cell larger, more intensely black, the red spots on the last also larger; the subterminal and terminal markings paler, more diffuse. Hind wing with basal, median and subterminal broad transverse bands of irrorated black scales, all the bands with their margins uneven and zigzag; the outer margin of the basal band with four transversely placed red spots, and transverse red discal spots edged with black in interspaces 1, 2, 5 and 7; the termen margined with a fine, more or less interrupted, black line. In a few specimens the red spots are more or less obsolescent.
Antennae pale yellowish white, the shafts-obscurely ringed with black head, thorax and abdomen, black, the head and the thorax anteriorly with long greyish-white hairs; beneath: the palpi, thorax, legs and basal portion of the abdomen similarly clothed.
Female: Differs from the male as follows:—Upperside: all the markings larger and more conspicuous; an additional large black spot in the middle of interspace 1. Underside: similar to that of the male, but with the additional black spot as noted above.
) including Z. atriplicoides, Z. gontsharovi, Z. portulacoides, Z. fabago, Z. turcomanicum, Z. oxianum, and Z. macrophyllum.
Swallowtail butterfly
Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies that form the family Papilionidae. There are over 550 species, and though the majority are tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica...
belonging to the Parnassinae family and is the sole member of its genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
. It is found in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, Kirghizstan, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, and Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
. It is locally common in desert habitats.
Description
- For terms used in the description see glossary of Lepidopteran termsGlossary of Lepidopteran termsThis glossary describes the terms used in the formal descriptions of insect species, jargon used mostly by professionals or entomologist....
Male upperside: white, with a slight cream-yellow tint. Fore wing: base densely, costal margin lightly, irrorated with black scales; cell with a transverse black median and a black apical spot, the latter extends from the costa along the discocellulars almost to the lower apex of cell; beyond the cell an oblique, short black bar, widened posteriorly and with three superposed red spots, the middle spot minute, sometimes absent; this is followed by an irregular subterminal black band, widened at the veins, widest near the costa, and gradually narrowed to a faint line posteriorly. In many specimens this band is not extended below vein 5, in others it reaches or almost reaches the tornal angle and is joined in its extension downwards to a prominent black transverse spot in interspace 3. Beyond this band the apex is marked with a small diffuse black patch, and the apices of the veins with black spots that are extended inwards to the subterminal band. Hind wing: base and dorsal margin broadly irrorated with black scales: a black upper discal and a subcostal spot, both generally centred with red; a subterminal series of slender black lunules, followed by a terminal row of transversely linear black spots ; the middle and postdiscal areas of the wing darkened by the markings of the underside that show through by transparency. Cilia of both fore and hind wings white alternated with black. Underside: ground-colour similar. Pore wing: markings as on the upperside, but the cellular spots, the spot in interspace 3 and the short bar beyond apex of cell larger, more intensely black, the red spots on the last also larger; the subterminal and terminal markings paler, more diffuse. Hind wing with basal, median and subterminal broad transverse bands of irrorated black scales, all the bands with their margins uneven and zigzag; the outer margin of the basal band with four transversely placed red spots, and transverse red discal spots edged with black in interspaces 1, 2, 5 and 7; the termen margined with a fine, more or less interrupted, black line. In a few specimens the red spots are more or less obsolescent.
Antennae pale yellowish white, the shafts-obscurely ringed with black head, thorax and abdomen, black, the head and the thorax anteriorly with long greyish-white hairs; beneath: the palpi, thorax, legs and basal portion of the abdomen similarly clothed.
Female: Differs from the male as follows:—Upperside: all the markings larger and more conspicuous; an additional large black spot in the middle of interspace 1. Underside: similar to that of the male, but with the additional black spot as noted above.
Foodplants
The larvae feed on plants of the genus Zygophyllum (ZygophyllaceaeZygophyllaceae
The Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contains the bean-caper and caltrop. It includes around 285 species in 22 genera.In the APG III system of classification, the families Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae compose the order Zygophyllales...
) including Z. atriplicoides, Z. gontsharovi, Z. portulacoides, Z. fabago, Z. turcomanicum, Z. oxianum, and Z. macrophyllum.
External links
- TOL Overview and taxonomoc discussion.
- Rusinsects