Papilio krishna
Encyclopedia
Krishna Peacock Papilio krishna is a large swallowtail
butterfly
found in forests in North East India
and Myanmar
.
Resembles Papilio paris generally, but differs in many points as follows: Upperside: ground-colour more of a brownish black, irrorated similarly to parti with, green scales, but the scales smaller and more sparsely spread. Fore wing: the postdiscal transverse band well-defined, complete, formed of white scaling with only a thin sprinkling of green scales on its inner margin, generally erect or slightly curved, rarely slightly sinuous. Hind wing: upper discal patch metallic greenish blue, smaller than in paris, but the portions of it in interspaces 6 and 7 more extended towards the termen, the metallic golden-green band that joins tho patch on its inner side to the dorsal margin more conspicuous than in paris; the tornal ocellus as in paris, but above it a subterminal series of claret-red lunules in interspaces 2, 3, 4 and 5, followed by a series of ochraceous-red obscure terminal narrow lunules in the interspaces, the cilia on the outer margin of each conspicuously white. Underside: forewing as in paris but an erect ochraceous-white postdiscal band as on the upperside limits; the series of internervular pale streaks on the outer half of the wing. Hind wing: a well-defined discal ochraceous-white band formed of a series of somewhat lunular marks in the interspaces, these increase in width anteriorly; a subterminal series of claret-red lunules traversed by violet scaling on the inner side as in paris, but much broader and more prominent; finally a terminal series of ochraceous-yellow lunular marks in the interspaces ; the cilia that border each lunule white. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in P. paris.
have been recorded :-
Swallowtail butterfly
Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies that form the family Papilionidae. There are over 550 species, and though the majority are tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica...
butterfly
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...
found in forests in North East India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
.
Description
- A large beautiful butterfly with a prominent swallowtail, the Krishna Peacock has a wingspan of 120 to 130 mm.
- It has black upper forewings with a thin prominent yellow discal band running across the wing, parallel to the body.
- The upper hindwing has a large blue discal patch which tapers off into a greenish yellow band from its lower edges inwards towrds the dorsum. It has a series of red mauve capped crescents (usually 5 in number).
- The upper hindwing discal band appears on the underhindwing also as a prominent curved yellow discal band.
Resembles Papilio paris generally, but differs in many points as follows: Upperside: ground-colour more of a brownish black, irrorated similarly to parti with, green scales, but the scales smaller and more sparsely spread. Fore wing: the postdiscal transverse band well-defined, complete, formed of white scaling with only a thin sprinkling of green scales on its inner margin, generally erect or slightly curved, rarely slightly sinuous. Hind wing: upper discal patch metallic greenish blue, smaller than in paris, but the portions of it in interspaces 6 and 7 more extended towards the termen, the metallic golden-green band that joins tho patch on its inner side to the dorsal margin more conspicuous than in paris; the tornal ocellus as in paris, but above it a subterminal series of claret-red lunules in interspaces 2, 3, 4 and 5, followed by a series of ochraceous-red obscure terminal narrow lunules in the interspaces, the cilia on the outer margin of each conspicuously white. Underside: forewing as in paris but an erect ochraceous-white postdiscal band as on the upperside limits; the series of internervular pale streaks on the outer half of the wing. Hind wing: a well-defined discal ochraceous-white band formed of a series of somewhat lunular marks in the interspaces, these increase in width anteriorly; a subterminal series of claret-red lunules traversed by violet scaling on the inner side as in paris, but much broader and more prominent; finally a terminal series of ochraceous-yellow lunular marks in the interspaces ; the cilia that border each lunule white. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in P. paris.
Status
The IUCN Red Data Book records the status of Krishna Peacock as Uncommon. It is not known to be threatened though like all Peacocks is highly sought in trade.Foodplants
The following foodplants from Family RutaceaeRutaceae
Rutaceae, commonly known as the rue or citrus family, is a family of flowering plants, usually placed in the order Sapindales.Species of the family generally have flowers that divide into four or five parts, usually with strong scents...
have been recorded :-
- Evodia fraxinifolia
- CitrusCitrusCitrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
spp. - Zanthoxylum spp.
Other reading
- Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India
- Gaonkar, Harish (1996) Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a threatened mountain system. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
- Gay,Thomas; Kehimkar,Isaac & Punetha,J.C.(1992) Common Butterflies of India. WWF-India and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India.
- Kunte,Krushnamegh (2005) Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press.
- Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.