Papilio thoas
Papilio thoas, the king swallowtail or Thoas swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in the southernmost United States, Mexico, Central America and South America (as far south as Argentina and Uruguay). The species is easily confused with the giant swallowtail, which it closely resembles in both larval and adult stages. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of citrus plants (Rutaceae). They have also been reported as feeding on a member of the genus Piper.[1]
| Thoas swallowtail | |
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| Species: | P. thoas |
| Binomial name | |
| Papilio thoas Linnaeus, 1771 | |
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Heraclides thoas | |
Adult Thoas swallowtails fly year round in the tropics, feeding on nectar of a variety of flowers, including Lantana, Stachytarpheta, and Bougainvillea among other species. The wingspan is 100–130 mm.
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically.[2]
- P. t. autocles Rothschild & Jordan, 1906
- P. t. brasiliensis Rothschild & Jordan, 1906
- P. t. cinyras Ménétriés, 1857
- P. t. nealces Rothschild & Jordan, 1906
- P. t. oviedo Gundlach, 1866
- P. t. thoantiades Burmeister, 1878
- P. t. thoas Linnaeus, 1771
P. t. thoas - Muséum de Toulouse
P. t. thoas, underside
Dorsal and ventral view
Underside Iguazu Falls
References
- Papilio, funet.fi
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Papilio thoas. |
- Thoas Swallowtail, Butterflies and Moths of North America
- Citizen science observations for Papilio thoas at iNaturalist
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