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Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Rothschild's
Swordtail
Protesilaus earis
ROTHSCHILD & JORDAN, 1906
Family -
PAPILIONIDAE
subfamily -
PAPILIONINAE
Tribe - LEPTOCIRCINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
Protesilaus earis, Madre de Dios, Peru
Introduction
Butterflies in the genus Protesilaus
are characterised by having translucent white wings, tinged on the
underside with green or yellow, and marked with narrow black
stripes. The
forewings are decidedly triangular in shape, and the hindwings
adorned with a single long sword-like tail. The bodies are
relatively short, and the antennal tips strongly recurved.
Protesilaus earis
can easily be confused with other Swordtail species. One feature
which helps differentiate between the various Protesilaus
species is the length of the dark bars on the forewing. In this
species the 4th bar ( in ascending order from the wing base ) is
reduced to a very small spot at the costa, whereas in most other species it extends to at
least one-third way down the discal cell. Other distinguishing
characteristics include the shape of the red tornal spot, and the
configuration of the very thin submarginal crescents on the
hindwings.
P. earis
occurs in Ecuador and Peru.
Habitats
This species occurs in
lowland rainforest at elevations from about
100-800m.
Lifecycle
To be completed.
Adult behaviour
Swordtails such as Protesilaus and Protographium are migratory in behaviour, following river courses as they
travel.
Males can often be seen gathered on sandbanks, filter-feeding on
dissolved minerals by continually pumping water though their
bodies. This species invariably aggregates with other Swordtail
species, often joined by various Pierids.
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