Papilio phestus

Papilio phestus is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in 1830 by Guérin-Méneville. The wingspan is about 9 – 10 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. The basic colour of Papilio phestus is black. A big yellow area dominates the hind wing.

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 phestus (male). Papilio phestus is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE from Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia).

Description

The fore wings are black.
The underside of Papilio phestus is also black. At the wing tip there are some thin, white stripes.

The hind wings of Papilio phestus are black. The edge is wavy. A big yellow area dominates the wing. At the inner edge there is a red eye.
The underside is black. In the middle of the wing there are some little yellow spots. At the inner edge there are two red spots. At the edge there are some red spots too.

The body (abdomen) is black. The thorax is black. The head is black.

Sex differences: ---

Distribution

Papilio phestus is a butterfly from the Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia) ecozone. You can observe this butterfly on Salomon Islands and New Britannia.

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

Larval food

Rutaceae:

Citrus ssp.

General information

The first description of this butterfly was in 1830 by Guérin-Méneville. There are three subspecies.

Papilio phestus minusculus [Ribbe]
Papilio phestus parkinsoni [Honrath, 1886]
Papilio phestus reductus [Rothschild, 1915]

Macro photos

Here you can see a macro photo of Papilio phestus.

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

Protection provisions / Red List

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

-No entry- (as at 12.02.2008)
EU regulation on trading with species of wild Fauna and Flora

-No entry- (as at 19.08.2005)
IUCN Red List of threatened species:

-No entry- (as at 2008)