Torquatus Swallowtail

About the Torquatus Swallowtail

Papilio torquatus, the torquatus swallowtail, is a swallowtail butterfly in the subfamily Papilioninae. It is found from northern Argentina to Mexico. The wingspan is 75–80 millimetres (3.0–3.1 in). P. torquatus. male: the band of the forewing is interrupted between the 2. and 3. radial, rarely there is a yellow spot almost filling up the gap; on the under surface of the hindwing a row of red discal spots, of which the last is placed proximally to the last submarginal spot. The female very different from the male, resembling certain Aristolochia-Papilios which occur together with it; wings brown-black, with or without white patches on the forewing; hindwing above with two rows of red spots, the proximal row incomplete, some of the spots merged together in pairs into 2 or 3 large patches. The anal tergite of the male spatulate; the harpe broad, denticulate. Larva shiny, as if polished (which is also the case in all the allied species), mottled with light colour, with irregular pale patch before the middle; the colour of bird-droppings. The butterfly is found in forests and in their neighbourhood; the female is a true woodland species, like the Aristolochia... Wikipedia →