| Malabar Banded Peacock | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Genus: | Papilio |
| Species: | P. buddha |
| Binomial name | |
| Papilio buddha Westwood, 1872 | |
 | |
Papilio buddha, theMalabar banded peacock,[1][2] is a species ofswallowtail butterfly found in theWestern Ghats of India.[1][2][3]TheGovernment of Kerala declared it as the officialKerala state butterfly.[1]Papilio buddha is a threatened species and one of the species considered in a 2023 molecular phylogeny study of thePapilio genus, with the study concluding that it forms part of the Old World clade that existed around 30 million years ago in the Oligocene.[4]
P. buddha resemblesP. palinurus but is larger. The upperside of the wings also differ with the irroration of green scales more restricted, the outer half of the forewing except a triangular patch from the apex of wing downwards, and the outer third of the hindwing except a subterminal series of ill-formed lunules, devoid of green scales; discal transverse bands on both forewing and hindwings similar to those inP. palinurus but very much broader; the discal band of the forewing measured on the dorsum occupies considerably more than one-third of the dorsal length, while the discal band of the hindwing is as broad posteriorly as it is anteriorly (inP. palinurus it is much narrower posteriorly); the ochraceous tornal ocellus brighter, not surmounted with blue; the subapical ochraceous lunule in interspace 7 also brighter and much larger.[5]
The underside is similar to the underside ofP. palinurus, but on the hindwing the ochraceous lunules in the subterminal series is proportionately narrower and much more conspicuously bordered on their innersides with silvery white. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as inP. palinurus.[5][6]
The wingspan is 107–155 mm.[citation needed]
Thecaterpillar has a shield on the thoracic segments. Green, the shield laterally and posteriorly narrowly edged with white; segments 5 to 11 with a broad white line and above it a series of minute white spots on each segment.
The pupa is curved ventrally, head cleft, the processes long and upturned, back and sides keeled; colour dark green ventrally, pale green dorsally (after Davidson and Aitken).[5]
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The larva (caterpillar) has been recorded onZanthoxylum rhetsa.[7]
This species is locally common and not rare. It is protected in India but not known to be threatened.[citation needed]
It is a member of species grouppalinurus
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Bingham, C.T. (1907).The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. II (1st ed.). London:Taylor and Francis, Ltd. pp. 89–90.
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