Mimicry in a Swallowtail Butterfly
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Papilio polytes Homepage
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−The study of butterflies - creatures selected as the types of
airiness and frivolity - instead of being despised, will some day be valued
as one of the most important branches of biological science−
By Henry Walter Bates after "A Naturalist on
the River Amazon" (1876)
KWs: mimic, mimetic, mimicry, Batesian mimicry, butterfly, butterflies, swallowtail,
Papilio, polytes, evolution, sex-linked
Synonyms: The Common Mormon, "shiro-obi ageha" , "シロオビアゲハ"
Papilio polytes as Mimetic Butterfly : The aim of this server is to provide an
online information service regarding Papilio polytes for mimicry
researchers.
left: Mimic (form polytes), right: Model
(Pachliopta aristolochiae). (leg. Hori: 23 March, 2004, at Kabira,
Ishigaki）
The Common Mormon is one of the "Swallowtail" papilionidae species which
is widespread in southeast Asia where Citrus (lime, lemon, etc) is
grown. In Japan, they can only be found in the Ryukyu Islands, the northern
edge of the biogeographical range of this species. The food plants of the
caterpillar in the Islands are mainly local rutaceous plants (Sarukake-mikan, Hirami-lemon in Japanese).
The female occurs in two forms (= dimorphic) - form cyrus resembles
the male, and form polytes, is a good mimic of the Common Rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae ; Benimon
Ageha in Japanese). As the Common Mormon is not impalatable to birds,
the female mimics the poisonous Common Rose for protection from its
predators.
（left: form cyrus, right: form polytes. Photo by Hori: 23 March, 2004, at Kabira, Ishigaki）
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Introduction for
Mimicry
- Geographical
Distribution
- Morphology
- Life Cycle
- Phylogeny
- Reproduction
- Hybrid Specimens of
Papilionoidea Butterflies (Ae collection)
- Chemoreception in
Butterflies
- Genetics and Genomics (Karyotype, Genome Size, Chromosomal
Basis of Sex Determination in Butterflies)
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- list of publication on P. polytes
- list of publication on mimicry
- list of
publication on wing pattern formation
- list of publication on sexual dimorphism
- list of
publication on pigmentation
- list of
publication on visual pigments
- Who's Who
Related Homepages
Related Databases, Related Organisms
Others (Books, Journals, etc,
Meeting Records,
Field Records,
"Topics" , Hx)
(Visit Count from March 16, 2004), Statistics
Total file number: 0,000 files, Total memory size:
00.0 Mb, at March 26, 2004.
Authors