Graphium arycles

Spotted jay
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Graphium
Species:	G. arycles
Binomial name
Graphium arycles Boisduval, 1836

Graphium arycles, the spotted jay, is a species of butterfly of the family Papilionidae found in the Indomalayan realm.

Description

For terms see External morphology of Lepidoptera. Smaller than Graphium agamemnon, tailless. Body as in that species. Wings above with pale green patches, which often fade to yellowish (after death); on the forewing an indistinct basal band, a subbasal band, three transverse spots and a smaller apical spot in the cell, a discal row of patches, of which the 1st and 3rd are small, and a submarginal row of small spots, moreover in the subcostal spot a further isolated discal spot, the last submarginal spot double, but the anterior part placed straight before the posterior part, not as in agamemnon removed towards the disc, only 2 spots before the subcostal fork; on the hindwing a tripartite subbasal band parallel with the abdominal margin, a discal row of 4 spots, of which the 1st is large and white, and a submarginal row of 6 spots. The patches beneath almost as above, but all with silvery scaling; on the hindwing in addition a small spot at the costal between the subbasal band and the large costal discal spot and also three spots between the 3rd radial and the anal angle red, rarely yellow. The female is similar to the male.[1]

India

It is scarce and likely to be found in the extreme north east of India. It is not known to be threatened but the nominate subspecies is protected by law in India.

Subspecies

• G. a. arycles Burma onward to Peninsular Malaya, Java, Sumatra, Bangka and Borneo
• G. a. perinthus (Fruhstorfer, 1915) Philippines
• G. a. sphinx (Fruhstorfer, 1899) Cambodia.-larger than arycles and has narrower spots in the cell of the forewing, and the red spots on the under surface of the hindwing of arycles are here replaced by yellow or blue green ones.

See also

• Papilionidae
• List of butterflies of India
• List of butterflies of India (Papilionidae)

References

1. Seitz , A. Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafeln This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

• Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN 978-2-88032-603-6 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.