Biology:Graphium macleayanus

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Short description: Species of butterfly

Macleay's swallowtail
Graphium macleayanus.jpg
Macleay's swallowtail (Graphium macleayanus moggana), Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, Tasmania, Australia
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Graphium
Species:
G. macleayanus
Binomial name
Graphium macleayanus
(Leach, 1814)[1]
Graphium macleayanus range.png
Range of Macleay's swallowtail
  G. m. moggana;   G. m. macleayanus

Graphium macleayanus, the Macleay's swallowtail, is a butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. The species was named after Alexander Macleay.[2][3]

Taxonomy

Macleay's swallowtail was first described by William Elford Leach in 1814. Two subspecies are recorded in Australia,[1] the nominate form, G. m. macleayanus and G. m. moggana, which was first described by Leonard Edgar Couchman in 1965.[4] The name is synonymous with Papilio macleayanus.

Description

Illustration

The caterpillar grows to a length of 4 cm. The pupa is green with thin yellow lines.

The adult female Macleay's swallowtail has a wingspan of 59 mm, whilst the adult male has a wingspan of 53 mm.[5] The upperside of the wing is green with white markings and black edges.[6] The lower surface is a deeper green with black, brown and white markings.[6] The lower wings are strongly tailed.[7]

Distribution and habitat

The Macleay's swallowtail is one of the most widely distributed swallowtail butterflies in Australia.[8] It is found in eastern Australia including the ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. It is the only swallowtail found in Tasmania.[9] The species has also been found on Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island, but not since 1893.[1] The habitat of the species includes urban areas, forests, woodlands and heath.[10]

Behaviour

The caterpillars are green, with small white dots all over the body and a humped thorax. They feed on the foliage of members in the Atherosperma, Cinnamomum, Cryptocarya, Daphnandra, Doryphora, Endiandra and Tasmannia genera.[11]

The adults feed on nectar from flowers, including the genera Leptospermum, Lantana and Buddleia.[5] The flight period is from August to March.[12]

See also

  • Papilionidae
  • List of butterflies of Australia
  • List of butterflies of Victoria
  • List of butterflies of Tasmania

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Macleay's swallowtail". CSIRO and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. 18 September 2004. http://www.ento.csiro.au/aicn/name_c/a_2526.htm. 
  2. ↑ Herbison-Evans, Don; Newman, Stewart; Crossley, Stella (5 September 2009). "Graphium macleayanus (Leach, 1814)". http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~don/larvae/papi/macleay.html. 
  3. ↑ Stacey, Robyn; Hay, Ashley (24 October 2007). Museum: the Macleays, their collections and the search for order. Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-521-87453-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=cSElAFnbkocC&q=Graphium+macleayanus. 
  4. ↑ "Names List for Graphium macleayanus (Leach, 1814)". Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. 9 October 2008. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/Graphium_macleayanus/names. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Macleay's Swallowtail ( Graphium macleayanus )". OzAnimals.com. http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Macleay%27s-Swallowtail/Graphium/macleayanus.html. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Graphium macleayanus – JCU". http://cms.jcu.edu.au/discovernature/butterfliescommon/JCUPRD_044477. 
  7. ↑ Tasmanian year book, Issue 11. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Tasmanian Office. 1977. 
  8. ↑ Australian natural history, Volume 14. Australian Museum. 1962. 
  9. ↑ Charles Barrett; Alexander N. Burns (1951). Butterflies of Australia and New Guinea. N. H. Seward. 
  10. ↑ "Macleay's Swallowtail Fact File". Australian Museum. 4 November 2009. http://faunanet.gov.au/wos/factfile.cfm?Fact_ID=190. 
  11. ↑ "Host taxa for Graphium macleayanus (Leach, 1814)". Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. 9 October 2008. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/Graphium_macleayanus/hosts. 
  12. ↑ Daley, Elizabeth (2007). Wings: An introduction to Tasmania's winged insects. Riffles Pty Ltd. 

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q1764886 entry



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