Family Papilionidae Rank Species | Genus Byasa | |
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Similar Byasa plutonius, Byasa nevilli, Byasa crassipes, Byasa polla, Byasa latreillei | ||
Byasa mencius is a species of butterfly from the family Papilionidae (swallowtails). It is found in China.
The wingspan is 10–11 cm. The wings are dark brown with chain of large red spots on the hindwings. The underside of the body is covered in red hairs.
The larvae feed on Cocullus carolinus.
Taxonomy
In the original description (C. & R. Felder, 1862; Wien. ent. Monats. 6 (1): 22) Papilio mencius Nob. is stated to be "geographica mutatio" [Synonym of ] P. alcinous Klug var. apud. [George Robert] Gray, 1852 Catal. of Lep. Ins. I Plate 4 fig. 2, 3. [1] shown here in the taxobox illustration.
In other words, the variety of Papilio alcinous figured by Gray was raised to a "good" (one accepted) species by the Felder brothers. Their specimens were from the Chinese coastal trading city of Ningpo.