Butterflies of the Indian
subcontinent
Common Mormon
Papilio
polytes
LINNAEUS, 1758
Family -
PAPILIONIDAE
subfamily -
PAPILIONINAE
Tribe - PAPILIONINI
Papilio
polytes Mumbai,
India © Anand Narkevar
Introduction
There
are about 60 species of Papilio in the Oriental
region, and 210 species worldwide.
Papilio polytes
is palatable to insectivorous birds and produces several different female forms
which mimic unpalatable Atrophaneura swallowtails.
These mimetic forms include romulus f. polytes which is a near perfect double of
Atrophaneura hector, and romulus
f. theseus which is a superb mimic of
Atrophaneura aristolochiae. Birds are unable to distinguish between mimic and model, and having had the unpleasant
experience of tasting an Atrophaneura will reject the
near identical but perfectly edible
polytes. For human observers distinguishing
between the two genera is easy though because polytes
has an all-black head and body, while in Atrophaneura
species these are red.
Papilio
polytes is found across most of the Oriental region from India and Sri
Lanka to west China and the Philippines. It ranges south through Thailand and
West Malaysia to Sumatra and Borneo.
Habitats
This species is found in rainforest, semi-deciduous woodland,
thorn scrub,
beach hinterlands, parks and gardens. It can be
found at altitudes between sea level and about 1000m.
Lifecycle
The larval
foodplants include
Citrus, Clausena,
Fortunella, Glycosmis,
Zanthoxylum, Toddalia,
Aegle, Murraya,
Triphasia, Euodia,
Atalantia and Poncirus ( Rutaceae ).
Adult behaviour
In the early morning the butterflies fly low over the ground,
and settle to bask for long periods on low vegetation, with their wings
outspread. Later in the day as temperatures rise they become very active. Both
sexes will nectar at Lantana and a wide variety of
other wild and cultivated flowers.
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