Papilio rex

Updated on Dec 25, 2024

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Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Papilionidae Scientific name Papilio rex		Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Tribe Papilionini Rank Species

Similar Papilio echerioides, Papilio plagiatus, Papilio jacksoni, Papilio mackinnoni, Papilio cynorta

Papilio rex, the regal swallowtail or king papilio, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa.

The Kenyan forms mimic Tirumala formosa, the forest monarch butterfly.

The larvae feed on Teclea tricocarpa, Teclea stuhlmanni, Calodendrum, Citrus, Clausena, Fagara and Toddalia species.

Taxonomy

Papilio rex is a member of the dardanus species group. The members of the clade are:

Papilio dardanus Brown, 1776

Papilio constantinus Ward, 1871

Papilio delalandei Godart, [1824]

Papilio phorcas Cramer, [1775]

Papilio rex Oberthür, 1886

P. r. rex (Kenya (east of the Rift Valley), north-eastern Tanzania, central Tanzania)

P. r. mimeticus Rothschild, 1897 (Congo Republic, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, north-western Tanzania, western Kenya)

P. r. franciscae Carpenter, 1928 (southern Sudan, south-western Ethiopia)

P. r. alinderi Bryk, 1928 (Kenya (highlands west of the Rift Valley))

P. r. schultzei Aurivillius, 1904 (eastern Nigeria, highlands of Cameroon)

P. r. abyssinicana Vane-Wright, 1995 (highlands of south-eastern Ethiopia)

P. r. regulana Vane-Wright, 1995 (Kenya (highlands east of the Rift Valley))

Afrotropic ecozone

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