King Page Swallowtail -
Heraclides thoas (LINNAEUS, 1771)

Introduction
The family Papilionidae is comprised of about 600 species found throughout the world in almost every environment - including deserts, mountains, grasslands, tropical rainforests, temperate woodlands, meadows, marshes and coastal dunes.

There are 3 subfamilies. The Parnassiinae comprises about 50 species known as Apollos, which breed mainly in mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. The Papilioninae comprises of about 550 species of worldwide distribution, and includes the Swallowtails, Dragontails and the giant Birdwings of south-east Asia. The other subfamily Baroniinae consists of a single species Baronia brevicornis which is endemic to the mountains of western Mexico.

Heraclides thoas is distributed from Mexico to Bolivia and Argentina, and occurs as a rare stray in the southern United States. It is extremely similar in appearance to Heraclides cresphontes, and can only be distinguished from it with certainty by close examination of the abdominal tip. H. cresphontes however has a more northerly distribution being found from Canada to Colombia.

Habitats
This species is found in many different habitats including tropical rainforest, cloudforest, humid deciduous forest, orchards and suburban zones at altitudes between sea level and about 1600m.

Lifecycle
The eggs are chestnut coloured, globular and smooth in texture. They are laid singly on leaves and stems of the larval foodplants, or on nearby plants, along forest edges, roadsides and riverbanks.

The caterpillars of all Papilionidae bear tubercules when in their first instar. In some genera such as Papilio and Eurytides these are absent in the mature larva, but in others such as Troides, Battus and Parides they develop into soft fleshy knobs or hooks. Many are very colourful, with bright green bodies adorned with orange or red tubercules, while others such as Heraclides are dull in colour and similar in appearance to a bird dropping.

All Papilionidae larvae are equipped with an extrusible forked appendage called an osmaterium, which is situated behind the head. This is everted if the larva is molested, and gives off a noxious pheromone containing isobutyric acid, which is believed to be used as a defence against ants.

The larvae feed primarily on Piper, but also possibly on Zanthoxylum, Citrus and Ptelea, although larvae found on these plants are more likely to be the very closely related cresphontes.

The pupa is described by DeVries as dull brown and resembling a twig. It is attached by the cremaster and a silken girdle, in an upright position, to a stem.

Adult behaviour
Males are frequently seen on sandbanks, dry river beds, damp sunny tracks and other places where they can imbibe mineralised moisture. Sometimes they are seen singly, but more often in small group of about 4-6 amidst mixed aggregations of Pierids such as Phoebis, Aphrissa & Rhabdodryas.

Both sexes commonly visit flowers, showing a particular preference for Lantana. When feeding at flowers the forewings are constantly fluttered - a feature common to most Papilioninae wherever in the world they occur.

Copulation probably occurs in late afternoon - at Rio Frio in Venezuela I observed a copulating pair of thoas, settled with wings outspread on the foliage of a large-leaved bush just before dusk. On the same leaf were 3 other thoas, all with wings outspread and overlapping those of their neighbours.


Make: Canon
Model: Canon PowerShot SX110 IS
Software: PhotoScape
Exposure Time: 1/640
F-Stop: f/3.5
ISO Speed Ratings: 100
Focal Length: 14400/1000 mm
Date Taken: 2010-03-14 09:31
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: Fill flash fired
File Size: 259 kb

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