Battus polydamas, also known as the gold rim swallowtail, the Polydamas swallowtail or the tailless swallowtail, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 10th edition of Systema Naturae, published in 1758.
Description
The wingspan is without the tail. The top of the wings are black with a broad submarginal band formed by large yellow spots. The undersides of the forewings have the same pattern, while the hindwings have a submarginal row of red lunules. This butterfly flies from April to November in three generations in the north of its range, throughout the year in several generations in the tropics. The larvae feed on Aristolochia plant species.
Distribution
It is found in the Neotropical realm throughout Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the southern United States (in Texas and Florida).
Habitat
Battus polydamas is mainly present in open woods and abandoned fields.
Subspecies
The species is divided into the following subspecies:
B. p. antiquus (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) – Antigua (extinct) B. p. archidamas (Boisduval, 1836) – Chile B. p. atahualpa Racheli & Pischedda, 1987 – Peru B. p. cebriones (Dalman, 1823) - Martinique
B. p. christopheranus (Hall, 1936) - Saint Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat (possibly extinct)
B. p. cubensis (Dufrane, 1946) – Cuba (including Isla de la Juventud), Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman) B. p. dominicus (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) – Dominica B. p. grenadensis (Hall, 1930) - Grenada, possibly southern Grenadines
B. p. jamaicensis (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) – Jamaica
B. p. lucayus (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) – Florida, Bahamas
B. p. lucianus (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) – St. Lucia (possibly extinct) B. p. neodamas (Lucas, 1852) – Guadeloupe B. p. peruanus (Fuchs, 1954) – Peru B. p. polycrates (Hopffer, 1865) – Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic)
B. p. polydamas (Linnaeus, 1758) – tropical Central and South America
B. p. psittacus (Molina, 1782) – Chile, Argentina
B. p. renani Lamas, 1998 – Peru
B. p. streckerianus (Honrath, 1884) – Peru
B. p. thyamus (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) – Puerto Rico (including Culebra), Virgin Islands B. p. vincentius (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines B. p. xenodamas (Hübner, 1825) – Martinique B. p. weyrauchi Lamas, 1998 – Peru
See also
List of butterflies of Jamaica
References
Mathew, G. F. (1877). "Life history of Papilio archidamas". Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 14 (163): 152–153. Brown, F. Martin & Heineman, Bernard. Jamaica and its Butterflies. (E. W. Classey, London 1972), plate VIII Smart, Paul (1976). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Butterfly World in Color. London, Salamander: Encyclopedie des papillons. Lausanne, Elsevier Sequoia (French language edition) page 159 fig. 19 as B. archidamas Bsdv., underside (Chile), fig. 17 as polydamas (Mexico).