Papilio echerioides, the white-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The wingspan is 65–75 mm. It has two flight periods, first from January to March and second from September to November.
The larvae feed on Clausena inaequalis, Toddalia lanceolata, Toddalia asiatica, Zanthoxylum capense, Zanthoxylum delagoense, Vepris lanceolata and Citrus species.
Description
The male is very similar to Papilio cynorta, but the median band, which is very pale yellow, tapers more strongly towards the apex. The pale spot in area (cell) 6 of the forewing is always present (usually absent in P. cynorta). The female is a mimic of the butterflies Amauris echeria and Amauris albimaculata. The forewing is black with white spots, the hindwing black with a large pale ochreous discal area and white submarginal spots.
Taxonomy Papilio echerioides is a member of the echerioides species group. This clade includes:
Papilio echerioides Trimen, 1868 Papilio fuelleborni Karsch, 1900 Papilio jacksoni Sharpe, 1891 Papilio sjoestedti Aurivillius, 1908
Subspecies Listed alphabetically: P. e. ambangulu Clifton & Collins, 1997 Clifton M. & Collins, S. E. 1997 Clifton & Collins, 1997. In: d’Abrera, 1997. Butterflies of the Afrotropical region. Part 1 (Tanzania) P. e. chirindanus van Son, 1956 Van Son, G. 1956. New South African butterflies. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 22 (4): 503- 509. (Mozambique (Mount Gorongosa), eastern Zimbabwe) P. e. echerioides Trimen, 1868 Trimen, R. 1868. On some undescribed species of South African butterflies, including a new genus of Lycaenidae. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1868: 69-96. (South Africa, Eswatini) P. e. homeyeri Plötz, 1880 Plotz, C. 1880 Verzeichniss der vom Prof. Dr. R. Buchholz in West-Africa gesammelten Schmetterlinge. Stettiner Entomologische Zeitung 41: 298-307 (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, south-western Tanzania, northern Zambia) P. e. joiceyi Gabriel, 1945 Gabriel, A.G. 1945. Notes on some Papilionidae (Lep. Rhopalocera), with descriptions of five new subspecies. Entomologist 78: 151-152. – Zoroaster swallowtail – (Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya, western Tanzania, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo) P. e. kiellandi Clifton & Collins, 1997 (southern Kenya, northern Tanzania) P. e. leucospilus Rothschild, 1902 .Rothschild, W. 1902. Some new African Lepidoptera discovered by Oscar Neumann. Novitates Zoologicae 9: 595-598.(Ethiopia: highlands south-east of Rift Valley) P. e. nioka (Berger, 1974) (Democratic Republic of the Congo) P. e. nyiro Carcasson, 1962Carcasson, R.H. 1962. New African lepidoptera. Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and & Coryndon Museum 24 (1): 54-63. (Kenya) P. e. oscari Rothschild, 1902 (Ethiopia: highlands west of the Rift Valley) P. e. pseudowertheri Kielland, 1990 Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363 (eastern and south-eastern Tanzania) P. e. shirensis (Hancock, 1987)Hancock, D. L. 1987 A new subspecies of Princeps echerioides (Trimen, 1863) from Malawi.Papilio International 3 (3): 193-195 (Malawi) P. e. wertheri Karsch, 1898 Karsch, F. 1898a. Uber die aus der Irangi-Expedition gesammelten Orthoptera und Lepidoptera.In: Werther, C.W. Die mittleren Hochlander des nordlichen Deutsch-Ost-Afrika 311-317. Berlin. (eastern Kenya, eastern and northern Tanzania) P. e. zoroastres Druce, 1878 Druce, H. 1878a. Descriptions of two new species of butterflies from West Africa.Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 14: 226. Full text(Cameroon)
References
Carcasson, R.H., 1960, "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society pdf Key to East Africa members of the species group, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society)