Papilio cyproeofila | |
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Papilio cyproeofila in Adalbert Seitz's Fauna Africana, bottom left - upperside and next right - underside | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Papilionidae |
Genus: | Papilio |
Species: | P. cyproeofila |
Binomial name | |
Papilio cyproeofila Butler, 1868 |
Papilio cyproeofila, the common white-banded swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus Papilio that is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria.
The larvae feed on Piper species.
It is a member of the zenobia species group. In the zenobia group the basic upperside wing pattern is black with white or yellowish bands and spots. The underside is brown and basally there is a red area marked with black stripes and spots. In the discal area there is a yellowish band with black stripes and veins. Females resemble Amauris butterflies. Both sexes lack tails.
The clade members are:
It is very similar to Papilio gallienus but has cream-white rather than cream-yellow bands and these are not curved on the inner edge (Larsen, 2005).