Papilio memnon (Great Mormon)

Papilio memnon, also called Great Memnon is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in 1758 by Linnaeus. The wingspan is about 13 – 15 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. The basic colour of Papilio memnon is black. This species has a very strong sexual dimorphism.

Photos for easy identification

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see some photos of Papilio memnon (Great Mormon) (male above / female below). Papilio memnon is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE from Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia).

Description

The fore wings are black.
The underside of Papilio memnon is dark-brown. At the outer edge there are many brown stripes. Next to the body there is a red spot.

The hind wings of Papilio memnon are black. The edge is wavy. The outer half of the wing has blue stripes.
The underside is dark-brown. The outer half of the wing is brown and contains two chains of black spots. Next to the body there are two red spots.

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

Sex differences: The basic colour of the female is brown. The fore wings are light-brown and have many brown stripes. Next to the body there is a yellow spot. The hind wings are brown and they have tails. Next to the body there is a big white area with dark-brown veins. At the edge there is a chain of yellow spots. At the inner edge there is a black eye-spot.

Distribution

Papilio memnon is a butterfly from the Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia) ecozone. You can observe this butterfly from Myanmar until Japan and Indonesia.

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

Larval food

Rutaceae:

Atalantia buxifolia
Citrus sp.
Fortunella japonica
Paramignya scandens
Poncirus trifoliata
Severinia buxifolia
Toddalia asiatica
Zanthoxylum ailanthoides
Zanthoxylum nitidum

General information

The first description of this butterfly was in 1758 by Linnaeus. There are many subspecies.

Papilio memnon agenor [Linnaeus, 1768]
Papilio memnon anceus [Cramer, 1779]
Papilio memnon clathratus [Rothschild]
Papilio memnon coeruleus [van Eecke]
Papilio memnon heronus [Fruhstorfer, 1902]
Papilio memnon lowii [Druce, 1873]
Papilio memnon merapu [Doherty, 1891]
Papilio memnon oceani [Doherty, 1891]
Papilio memnon perlucidus [Fruhstorfer]
Papilio memnon pryeri [Rothschild, 1895]
Papilio memnon tanahsahi [Eliot, 1982]
Papilio memnon thunbergi [Siebold, 1824]

Furthermore there are many forms and variations.

Here you can see the subspecies Papilio memnon anceus (male).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the subspecies Papilio memnon clathratus (male left; female right).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the subspecies Papilio memnon coeruleus (male).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the subspecies Papilio memnon lowii.

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the subspecies Papilio memnon pryeri (male left; female right).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the subspecies Papilio memnon thunbergi (male left; female right).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the form Papilio memnon f achates (female).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the form Papilio memnon f agenor (male).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the form Papilio memnon f alcanor (female).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the form Papilio memnon f anceus (female).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the form Papilio memnon f butlerianus.

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the form Papilio memnon f distantianus (female).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the form Papilio memnon f javanus (female).

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the form Papilio memnon f laomedon (female).

Here you can see the aberration Papilio memnon ab erebinus (female).

Here you can see the aberration Papilio memnon ab esperi (female).

Here you can see the aberration Papilio memnon ab phoenix (female).

Macro photos

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer macro photograph of Papilio memnon m (upside)

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer macro photograph of Papilio memnon m (underside)

Here you can see some macro photos of Papilio memnon.

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) (see: www. redlist.org/)