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Graphium meyeri

(Meyer's Triangle)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Meyer's Triangle

Description

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Family Papilionidae

'The Papilionidae belong to the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Swallowtails are worldwide in distribution and comprise approximately 560 species. They are richest in the tropics, and their brilliant colors make them favorites of butterfly enthusiasts. Many swallowtail species, especially in the tropics, mimic other butterflies that are distasteful, while others are distasteful and cause birds and other vertebrate predators to regurgitate. Swallowtail adults are medium to large and may or may not have tails, while parnassian adults are medium, tailless, and have translucent wings . All adult parnassians and swallowtails have three pairs of walking legs , and adults of all species visit flowers for nectar.

'[1]

Subfamily Papilioninae

Swallowtails are members of the Family Papilionidae. They comprise about 560 species, have a worldwide distribution, and are richest in the tropics. Many are brilliantly colored and are favorites of butterfly enthusiasts. Many species, especially those in the tropics, mimic other butterflies that are distasteful, while others are distasteful and cause birds and other vertebrate predators to regurgitate. Adults are medium to large, may or may not have tails, and have three pairs of walking legs . Adults of all species visit flowers for nectar. Males of most species patrol for mates, while males of one group (Black, Old World, Anise, and Indra Swallowtails) perch on hilltops or ridges instead of patrolling . Swallowtails lay globular eggs and overwinter as pupae. Some species spend more than one year in the pupal stage, likely to survive drought years when little caterpillar food is available. In arid areas, the Black, Anise, and Indra Swallowtails often display this strategy.

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [2].

Ecology:  

The species inhabits primary and secondary rainforest, as well as areas of advanced regrowth and rural gardens. Both sexes fly rapidly along forest margins , often several metres above the ground and may frequent flowers. Males may sometimes imbibe moisture from creek beds .

[2].

List of Habitats :

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Graphium meyeri< /i> (Höpffer) 1874 • Papilio meyeri

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Comment: ST ([m ], [ff], W. Meyer leg .)

Last scrutiny: 09-Nov-2006

 

There are two subspecies of this butterfly. The nominate occurs on the main island of Sulawesi and Kepulauan Banggai (Peleng) while extremum Tsukada & Nishiyama, 1980 was described from Kepulauan Sula (Sanana).

[2].

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Graphium

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 8 species and subspecies in this genus:

G. deucalion (Yellow Zebra) · G. dorcus (Tabitha's Swordtail) · G. epaminondas (Andamans Swordtail) · G. meeki (Meek's Graphium) · G. meyeri (Meyer's Triangle) · G. polistratus (Dancing Swallowtail) · G. sandawanum (Apo Swallowtail) · G. taboranus (Tabora White Lady)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 03, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=14&sci=Papilionidae&com=Parnassians and Swallowtails [back]
  2. Muller, C.J. & Tennent, W.J. 2011. Graphium meyeri. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 2012-07-21