Papilio antimachus, theAfrican giant swallowtail, is abutterfly in the familyPapilionidae. With a wingspan between 18 and 23 centimetres (7.1 and 9.1 in), it is the largest butterfly in Africa and among the largest butterflies in the world. The shape of the wings differ between the males and females.
The wings are long and narrow and the ground colour is orange brown with black markings.P. antimachus live in thetropical rainforests of west and central Africa. The distribution area (range) stretches fromAngola,Cameroon,Democratic Republic of the Congo,Republic of the Congo,Gabon,Ghana,Ivory Coast,Liberia,Nigeria,Sierra Leone, andUganda. It is much rarer in the west of its range (Guinea to Cameroon) than in the eastern parts of its range. It probably stays in forest canopy but males come down tomud-puddle. The male is larger than the female and can be seen in groups at nectar. The females show themselves less, continually flying high above the treetops. It has been seenhill-topping in Liberia.[3] The butterfly may have no natural enemies because it is very toxic and advertises it with a resemblance of other similar butterflies including the much smallerAcraea. The larval foodplant is unknown and nothing is published on the early stages (egg, larva, pupa).Cardiac glycosides found in theImago byMiriam Rothschild[4] indicate that the so-far unidentified larva, most probably, sequesters foodplant toxins which persist through pupation into the imago as an aposematic protection against predation, and therefore that the larval foodplant is probably anasclepiad vine.
The type specimen was probably collected byHenry Smeathman from whose collections it was described by Dru Drury. The specimens were later bought by Alexander Macleay (1767–1848).[5]
^Sáfián, Sz. (2013). Observation of hill-topping behaviour by the Giant African Swallowtail -Papilio antimachus Drury, 1782 and other recent records from Liberia (West Africa) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae).SHILAP Revista de Lepidopterología. 41(163):323-329.
^Jackson, 1956 Notes on the Rhopalocera of the Kigezi District of Uganda with descriptions of new species and subspeciesJ. E Afr. Nat. Hist. Soc. 23 (1) : 63-102, pl. 1-13Full text
