Graphium illyris

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

Congo forest

Graphium illyris
Top view
Bottom view - MHNT
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Graphium
Species:	G. illyris
Binomial name
Graphium illyris (Hewitson, 1873)[1]
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

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.[2]

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)

References

1. Graphium, Site of Markku Savela
2. Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Leptocercini

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