Atrophaneura alcinous
Encyclopedia
The Chinese Windmill is a butterfly
of the Papilionidae family.
reaching about 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 ). The basic colour of the the wings is black or dark-brown.The hind wings have long tails and a chain of red spots at the edges. The thorax and the abdomen are mainly black on the upperside and the underside, with several black spots, while the other areas are red.
Adults are on wing from May to August in two generations.
The larvae feed on Aristolochia mandshhuriensis, Aristolochia debilis and Aristolochia manchuriensis. Subspecies has been recorded on Aristolochia shimadai, Aristolochia liukiuensis, Aristolochia kankauensis, Aristolochia elegans, Aristolochia debilis, Aristolochia kaempferii, Aristolochia onoei, Aristolochia tagala
, Cocculus trilobus and Metaplexis chinensis. The species overwinters as a pupa.
and in the Indomalaya ecozone, from Bhutan, and eastern China
to the southern Ussuri region, Korea
and Japan
.
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
of the Papilionidae family.
Description
Atrophaneura alcinous has a wingspanWingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
reaching about 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 ). The basic colour of the the wings is black or dark-brown.The hind wings have long tails and a chain of red spots at the edges. The thorax and the abdomen are mainly black on the upperside and the underside, with several black spots, while the other areas are red.
Adults are on wing from May to August in two generations.
The larvae feed on Aristolochia mandshhuriensis, Aristolochia debilis and Aristolochia manchuriensis. Subspecies has been recorded on Aristolochia shimadai, Aristolochia liukiuensis, Aristolochia kankauensis, Aristolochia elegans, Aristolochia debilis, Aristolochia kaempferii, Aristolochia onoei, Aristolochia tagala
Aristolochia tagala
Aristolochia tagala is commonly known as Indian birthwort and locally as Dutchman's pipe.-Distribution:It is widely distributed: the distribution is from the Himalaya to Sri Lanka through South East Asia and China, to Oceania...
, Cocculus trilobus and Metaplexis chinensis. The species overwinters as a pupa.
Distribution
This species can be found in the Asian part of the Palaearctic ecozone and partially in the Australasia ecozoneAustralasia ecozone
The Australasian zone is an ecological region that is coincident, but not synonymous , with the geographic region of Australasia...
and in the Indomalaya ecozone, from Bhutan, and eastern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to the southern Ussuri region, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Subspecies
- Atrophaneura alcinous alcinous
- Atrophaneura alcinous confusus (Rothschild, 1895) (Ussuri)
- Atrophaneura alcinous yakushimana (Esaki & Umeno, 1929) (Japan)
- Atrophaneura alcinous loochooana (Rothschild, 1896) (Japan)
- Atrophaneura alcinous miyakoensis (Omoto, 1960) (Japan)
- Atrophaneura alcinous bradanus (Fruhstorfer, 1908) (Japan)
- Atrophaneura alcinous mansonensis (Fruhstorfer, 1901) (south-central and south-eastern China, Taiwan)