Papilio memnon, the great Mormon, is a large butterfly native to southern Asia that belongs to the swallowtailfamily. It is widely distributed and has thirteen subspecies. The female is polymorphic and with mimetic forms.
This species is common and not threatened. The cultivation of citrus all over Southern Asia provides an abundance of food plants.
Description and polymorphyedit
The butterfly is large with a 120 to 150 millimetres (4.7 to 5.9 in) span. It has four male and many female forms, the females being highly polymorphic and many of them being mimics of unpalatable butterflies. This species has been studied extensively for understanding the genetic basis for polymorphy and Batesian mimicry. As many as twenty-six female forms are reported.[1][2][3]
Typical form agenoredit
Male. Tailless, above deep blue to black. It may or may not have red streak on the forewing at the base of the cell.
Female. Tailless. Upperside forewing ground colour sepia, streaked with greyish white. The basal third part of the cell is red and is touched outwardly with white. Upper hindwing is blue black. It has five to seven yellow or white discal patches.
Female form butlerianusedit
Tailless. Resembles the typical male. Both wings are dark sepia. The forewing has a white area on the inner margin. The hindwing is scaled with blue.
Female form alcanoredit
Tailed. The sides of the abdomen are yellow.
Upperside forewing greyish brown with veins and streaks between them black. The cell is red at the base. There is a velvety black patch at the bases of veins 1 and 2 of the upperside forewing.
Upperside hindwing is black with part of the cell white. There are white streaks around it. The tornus is red with a large black spot. There is a row of red terminal spots between the vein.
Male and female form polymnestoroidesedit
Tailless.
Male. Upperside hindwing and forewing have short blue discal stripes.
Female. The upperside forewing is sepia with pale grey streaks amongst the veins. The base of the cell is red. The upperside hindwing is velvety brown with a blue discal area and has black spots, as in the case of the blue Mormon (P. polymnestor), which it mimics.
Habitatedit
This species flies up to 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) in the Himalayas, but is most common at low elevations.
Behaviouredit
This butterfly is found in forest clearings. It is very common and is also seen amongst human habitation. It visits flowers of Poinsettia, Jasminum, Lantana, Canna and Salvia. It usually flies 2 to 4 metres (6 ft 7 in to 13 ft 1 in) above the ground. The butterfly is known to mud-puddle. The males are much more common than females. The female forms butlerianus and alcanor are especially uncommon.
Life cycleedit
The larva resembles that of the common Mormon (P. polytes), being green with whitish markings. It is heavily parasitised.
^C. A. Clarke & P. M. Sheppard (1971). "Further studies on the genetics of the mimetic butterfly Papilio memnon L.". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 263 (847): 35–70. Bibcode:1971RSPTB.263...35C. doi:10.1098/rstb.1971.0109. JSTOR 2417186.
Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN978-2-88032-603-6 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Leech, John Henry (1892–94). Butterflies from China, Japan, and Corea. London: R.H. Porter.
External linksedit
Media related to Papilio memnon at Wikimedia Commons
January 19, 2024
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This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations December 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Papilio memnon the great Mormon is a large butterfly native to southern Asia that belongs to the swallowtail family It is widely distributed and has thirteen subspecies The female is polymorphic and with mimetic forms Great MormonMaleFemaleScientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ArthropodaClass InsectaOrder LepidopteraFamily PapilionidaeGenus PapilioSpecies P memnonBinomial namePapilio memnonLinnaeus 1758SubspeciesP m memnon P m agenor Linnaeus 1768 P m anceus Cramer 1779 P m thunbergi Siebold 1824 P m lowii Druce 1873 P m oceani Doherty 1891 P m merapu Doherty 1891 P m pryeri Rothschild 1895 P m clathratus Rothschild P m subclathratus Fruhstorfer P m coeruleus van Eecke P m perlucidus Fruhstorfer P m heronus Fruhstorfer 1902 P m tanahsahi Eliot 1982SynonymsPrinceps memnon Contents 1 Range 2 Status 3 Description and polymorphy 3 1 Typical form agenor 3 2 Female form butlerianus 3 3 Female form alcanor 3 4 Male and female form polymnestoroides 4 Habitat 5 Behaviour 6 Life cycle 7 Gallery 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External linksRange editIts range includes north eastern India including Sikkim Assam and Nagaland Nepal Bangladesh Myanmar Nicobar Islands Andaman Islands stragglers only western southern and eastern China including Hainan Taiwan southern Japan including Ryukyu Islands Thailand Laos Vietnam Kampuchea Malaysia and Indonesia Sumatra Mentawai Islands Nias Batu Simeulue Bangka Java Kalimantan and the Lesser Sunda Islands Status editThis species is common and not threatened The cultivation of citrus all over Southern Asia provides an abundance of food plants Description and polymorphy editThe butterfly is large with a 120 to 150 millimetres 4 7 to 5 9 in span It has four male and many female forms the females being highly polymorphic and many of them being mimics of unpalatable butterflies This species has been studied extensively for understanding the genetic basis for polymorphy and Batesian mimicry As many as twenty six female forms are reported 1 2 3 Typical form agenor edit Male Tailless above deep blue to black It may or may not have red streak on the forewing at the base of the cell Female Tailless Upperside forewing ground colour sepia streaked with greyish white The basal third part of the cell is red and is touched outwardly with white Upper hindwing is blue black It has five to seven yellow or white discal patches Female form butlerianus edit Tailless Resembles the typical male Both wings are dark sepia The forewing has a white area on the inner margin The hindwing is scaled with blue Female form alcanor edit Tailed The sides of the abdomen are yellow Upperside forewing greyish brown with veins and streaks between them black The cell is red at the base There is a velvety black patch at the bases of veins 1 and 2 of the upperside forewing Upperside hindwing is black with part of the cell white There are white streaks around it The tornus is red with a large black spot There is a row of red terminal spots between the vein Male and female form polymnestoroides edit Tailless Male Upperside hindwing and forewing have short blue discal stripes Female The upperside forewing is sepia with pale grey streaks amongst the veins The base of the cell is red The upperside hindwing is velvety brown with a blue discal area and has black spots as in the case of the blue Mormon P polymnestor which it mimics Habitat editThis species flies up to 2 100 metres 6 900 ft in the Himalayas but is most common at low elevations Behaviour editThis butterfly is found in forest clearings It is very common and is also seen amongst human habitation It visits flowers of Poinsettia Jasminum Lantana Canna and Salvia It usually flies 2 to 4 metres 6 ft 7 in to 13 ft 1 in above the ground The butterfly is known to mud puddle The males are much more common than females The female forms butlerianus and alcanor are especially uncommon Life cycle editThe larva resembles that of the common Mormon P polytes being green with whitish markings It is heavily parasitised Gallery edit nbsp Male agenor nbsp Female agenor nbsp Female alcanor upperside nbsp Female alcanor underside nbsp Female butlerianus underside nbsp Female butlerianus upperside nbsp Male Underside nbsp Mating pair nbsp LarvaSee also editList of butterflies of India Papilionidae References edit C A Clarke P M Sheppard amp I W B Thornton 1968 The genetics of the mimetic butterfly Papilio memnon L Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 254 791 37 89 Bibcode 1968RSPTB 254 37C doi 10 1098 rstb 1968 0013 JSTOR 2416804 C A Clarke amp P M Sheppard 1971 Further studies on the genetics of the mimetic butterfly Papilio memnon L Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 263 847 35 70 Bibcode 1971RSPTB 263 35C doi 10 1098 rstb 1971 0109 JSTOR 2417186 C A Clarke amp P M Sheppard 1973 The genetics of four new forms of the mimetic butterfly Papilio memnon L Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 184 1074 1 14 Bibcode 1973RSPSB 184 1C doi 10 1098 rspb 1973 0027 JSTOR 76137 S2CID 86397695 Further reading editCollins N Mark Morris Michael G 1985 Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World The IUCN Red Data Book Gland amp Cambridge IUCN ISBN 978 2 88032 603 6 via Biodiversity Heritage Library Evans W H 1932 The Identification of Indian Butterflies 2nd ed Mumbai India Bombay Natural History Society Haribal Meena 1992 The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History Gangtok Sikkim India Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation Wynter Blyth Mark Alexander 1957 Butterflies of the Indian Region Bombay India Bombay Natural History Society ISBN 978 8170192329 Leech John Henry 1892 94 Butterflies from China Japan and Corea London R H Porter External links edit nbsp Media related to Papilio memnon at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Papilio memnon amp oldid 1180304904, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
