Family Papilionidae Scientific name Parides burchellanus | Order Lepidoptera Tribe Troidini Rank Species | |
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Similar Actinote zikani, Parides panthonus, Parides aeneas, Parides vertumnus, Parides phosphorus | ||
Parides burchellanus is a species of swallowtail butterfly (family Papilionidae). It is endemic to Brazil.
Contents
Description
Parides burchellanus is a large, velvet-black butterfly. The forewing is unmarked except for small, white marginal spots. The underside of the hindwing has small, red postdiscal spots. These are smaller and paler on the lower surface. The hindwing has a scalloped outer margin and a large androconial hair-pouch on the anal margin of the male. There are no tails. Apart from the hair-pouch, the sexes are alike.
Biology
The food plants of the larva are Aristolochia chamissonia and A. melastoma.
Taxonomy
Parides burchellanus is a member of the Parides aeneas species group and may be conspecific with, Parides aeneas. A suggested intermediate is known.
Habitat and threats
P. burchellanus is a rare species or, if it is a subspecies, an evolutionarily significant unit, of butterfly (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) that lives in a very few areas in central Brazil. Its close relation with a highly peculiar environment (gallery or riparian forest along rivers running through the cerrado landscape) restricts its occurrence to a few points. The frailty of its habitat, towards the increasing of loss of natural environments, makes it a target prone to elimination.