Papilio elwesi

Papilio elwesi is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in 1889 by Leech. The wingspan is about 13 – 14 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. The basic colour of Papilio elwesi is gray or black. There are red spots on the hind wings.

Photos for easy identification

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see some photos of Papilio elwesi (male). Papilio elwesi is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE from Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia).

Description

The fore wings are gray. The veins are black.
The underside of Papilio elwesi is very similar to the upside.

The hind wings of Papilio elwesi are black and they have broad tails. The edge is wavy. Next to the body there is a gray area with black veins. At the edge there is a chain of red spots.
The underside is very similar to the upside.

The body (abdomen) is black. The head and the thorax are black.

Sex differences: ---

Distribution

Papilio elwesi is a butterfly from the Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia) ecozone and the Palaearctic (Asia) ecozone. You can observe this butterfly in China.

: This world map shows the ecozones in which this butterfly is distributed.

Larval food

Magnoliaceae:

Liriodendron chinense
Liriodendron tulipifera

Lauraceae:

Sassafras tzumu

General information

The first description of this butterfly was in 1889 by Leech. There is only one subspecies.

Papilio elwesi cavalerei [Le Cerf]

Protection provisions / Red List

CITES: (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora):

-No entry- (as at 22.05.2009)
EU regulation on trading with species of wild Fauna and Flora

-No entry- (as at 07.07.2009)
IUCN Red List of threatened species:

-No entry- (as at 2009)