A guide to the genera and species of Parnassiinae (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Abstract

Illustrated keys are given to the seven genera and 44 species of Parnassiinae here recognized, together with brief notes on the distribution and larval food plants of each species. For poljrtypic species a list is given of the subspecies that differ most markedly from the typical form. One generic synonym is newly established.

Molecular systematics and evolution of the “Apollo” butterflies of the genus Parnassius (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data

“…In general, the eight clusters in Fig. 1 correspond with those species groups or subgenera hitherto described based on morphological and behavioral characters (Bryk, 1935;Munroe, 1961;Ackery, 1975;Hancock, 1983). They are the Apollo group in the narrow sense (I), the Hardwickii group (II), the Acco group (III), the Tenedius group (IV), the Delphius group (V), the Charltonius/Imperator group (VI), the Simo group (VII) and the Mnemosyne group (VIII).…”

“…The exact number of species, however, is not known because of disagreements as to the species/subspecies rank (Bryk, 1935;Eisner, 1958Eisner, , 1968Munroe, 1961;Ackery, 1975;Hancock, 1983;Weiss, 1992Weiss, -1999. As shown in Table 1, the number of species of the genus Parnassius greatly outnumbers those in other genera of the subfamily Parnassiinae, suggesting a unique evolutionary history for the ''Apollo'' butterflies.…”

“…Thus, the genus Parnassius is classified with two other genera of similar morphology, Archon and Hypermnestra, as belonging to the tribe Parnassiini of the subfamily Parnassiinae (Table 1). Together with the tribe Zerynthiini comprising five genera (Zerynthia, Allancastria, Sericinus, Bhutanitis and Luehdorfia), they are usually regarded as relatively ''primitive'' groups in the family Papilionidae (Munroe, 1961;Ackery, 1975;Igarashi, 1979;Hancock, 1983;Häuser, 1993).…”

Phylogeny and Evolution of Butterflies of the Genus Parnassius: Inferences from Mitochondrial 16S and ND1 Sequences

“…The genus consists of about fifty species, and up to ten species groups or subgenera have been proposed based on previous morphological and behavioral studies (Bryk, 1935;Eisner, 1958Eisner, , 1968Munroe, 1961;Ackery, 1975;Hancock, 1983;Weiss, 1992Weiss, -1998. The morphological characteristics primarily used in the classification of species and species groups include wing pattern, venation, male genitalia, fore-tibial epiphysis, and sphragis, i.e., the attachment to the end of the female abdomen made by the male secretion during copulation (see Hancock, 1983).…”

Effectiveness of the mating plug in Atrophaneura alcinous (Lepidoptera : Papilionidae)

“…The mode of plugging varies among taxa. External and elaborately structured sphragides are well known in some Papilionidae (Ackery 1975;Bryk 1918Bryk , 1919Elwes 1986) and Nymphalidae (especially Acraeinae : Eltringham 1912;Pierre 1985), while smaller amorphous mating plugs hidden in the female sinus vaginalis also occur extensively, in almost all butterfly subfamilies (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 1978). The sphragis and the mating plug may not be homologous (Orr 1988), but, at least to some extent, both function as mechanical obstacles to female remating (Dickinson and Rutowski 1989;Matsumoto 1987;Matsumoto and Suzuki 1992;Orr 1988;Orr and Rutowski 1991), a male sperm-guarding tactic apparently facilitated by the ditrysian female reproductive system.…”