Papilio antimachus
Giant African swallowtail | |
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Male, upperside | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Papilionidae |
Genus: | Papilio |
Species: | Papilio antimachus |
Binomial name | |
Papilio antimachus Drury, 1782[1] | |
Synonyms | |
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Papilio antimachus, the giant African swallowtail, is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae. With a wingspan between 18 and 23 centimetres (7.1 and 9.1 in), it is the largest butterfly in Africa and among the largest butterflies in the world. P. antimachus live in the tropical rainforests of west and central Africa. The distribution area (range) stretches from Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. The male is larger than the female and can often be seen in groups at nectar. The females show themselves less, continually flying high above the tree tops. The butterfly has no natural enemies because it is very toxic.
![](../I/m/DruryiaAntimachusRippon.jpg)
Female
Subspecies
- Papilio antimachus antimachus (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, southern Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, western Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, northern Angola)
- Papilio antimachus parva Jackson, 1956 (eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda)[2]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Papilio antimachus. |
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Wikispecies has information related to: Papilio antimachus |
- ↑ Papilio, Site of Markku Savela
- ↑ Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Papilionini
External links
- Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests - WWF Terrestrial Ecoregions
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.