Papilio aristodemus
| Schaus' swallowtail | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Genus: | Papilio |
| Species: | P. aristodemus |
| Binomial name | |
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Papilio aristodemus Esper, 1794 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Papilio aristodemus, the Schaus' swallowtail or island swallowtail, is a species of American butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in southern Florida with subspecies in the Bahamas, Hispaniola, and Cuba. Historically it occurred in tropical hardwood hammock from South Miami to Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida. It is named in honor of William Schaus.
Caterpillar host plants are in the family Rutaceae and include hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata), citrus species, sea torchwood (Amyris elemifera), and lime prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum fagara).
Schaus' swallowtail, Papilio aristodemus, is an endangered butterfly species of the family Papilionidae. It is named after a Miami physician, William Schaus, who discovered it in 1911. They are an extremely endangered species with only a few hundred individuals left. In 1976, it was one of the first insects to gain federal protection.
Schaus' swallowtail has black-brown wings with yellow markings and a broad rusty patch underneath the hindwing. The male's antennae are black with a yellow knob, while the female's antennae are all black. Their forewings have a dull yellow median band from the apex to about midpoint of the inner margin, with a short side branch to costa about one-third the distance from the apex.
Schaus' swallowtail has a wingspan of 3 1⁄4 by 3 3⁄4 inches (82 by 95 mm).
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Wikipedia