Thursday, September 14, 2023

Does Byasa Rhadinus Deserve to Be Butterfly of the Week? Meh.

There's not a lot to say about Byasa rhadinus. Most of what's been said about it has consisted of scientists going back and forth about whether it's a species. However, Funet recognized it as a species, so this web site will, too.


It's one of those species that can be confirmed only by laboratory examination of a dead individual. This Chinese butterfly's claim to being a separate species is that, while its wing pattern looks like nevilli, its body shape looks more like mencius, raising the question whether mencius and nevilli should be regarded as distinct species. Nobody seems to have been rearing them in captivity to find out what they eat, much less whether there are circumstances under which they can crossbreed.

An extensive online search reveals almost nothing written specifically about rhadinus. Mentions of this species usually consist of lists. It seems to have been more often listed as Papilio mencius rhadinus or Atrophaneura mencius rhadinus than as Atrophaneura rhadinus or Byasa rhadinus

Each forewing is about two inches long, females averaging just noticeably larger than males, giving the butterfly a total wingspan of four to five inches. Hind wings can be spread out further on museum specimens but living butterflies usually hold them fairly close together. Males have scent patches on their wings (the individual shown here was female), and the color of these patches tends to be darker than in nevilli..

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