Butterfly of the Week: Mencius' Windmill

This week's butterfly seems to live only in China. China has had other priorities than studying insects that aren't involved in crop production. Very little is known about Byasa (formerly Atrophaneura) mencius. 

By now you know all about its name except for the species name mencius. It doesn't look Chinese, but it is. A famous Chinese writer, whose name probably sounded more like "Meng-Tse," was called Mencius by some people who wrote about him in Latin. The butterfly was named in his honor. He wrote about philosophy, manners, morals, and life in general, and probably had something to say about the theme that must have been a big running joke for eighteenth century naturalists--funerals.

It's a large, dark brown to black butterfly with red spots described as forming a chain on each hind wing. The wingspread is at least four inches, sometimes closer to five. Its food plant is not in the genus Aristolochia, but I didn't find any information about what the food plant is. Something that grows in China. It is known from a few specimens a naturalist found in the coastal town of Ningpo. Questions have been raised whether it really is a distinctive species. It looks a bit like alcinous or rhadinus.

"Reading" from top to bottom and left to right, mencius is numbers two and three--the big one in the top right corner and on the left side. The painting is By G R Gray 1852 - internet archive, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23345266 . George Robert Gray painted these butterflies for the British Museum catalogue.

The specimen posed posthumously for a photo was found in Gulin in 1862.

The fold of white membrane on the inside of the hind wings is a feature some of the male butterflies in this group share. In normal flying and resting positions the membrane is folded. In courtship the male butterflies spread it out and release their species-specific scent. (Even this little fellow's mate thought he looked like some other kind of butterfly.)

Females tend to be slightly bigger than males, with slightly wider wings. Both sexes qualify as Red-Bodied Swallowtails by having red fur on the underside of the body.