Proceeding in alphabetical order, we come to Eurytides anaxilaus, the Small Kite Swallowtail, another very poorly documented South American butterfly. Here is one reason why it's poorly documented.
Photo by Camilojotage, who snapped it in Colombia.
Tropical South America is abundantly supplied with Kite Swallowtails. They all look somewhat alike at a distance, and many of them are most often found "puddling" in big mixed flocks. (A close view of the flock shown reveals that some of the butterflies belong to different species.) The Small Kite, which is actually bigger than many of the North American Zebra Swallowtails it resembles, is not all that much smaller than other Kites. (Its wingspan is usually about two and a half inches, 62 mm; some museum specimens are three inches or more.) A person needs a good reason to do more than say "Oh, a lot of Kite Swallowtails," and go on with per life. The butterflies don't provide a monetary reason to study them; they have some positive economic value as pollinators, but they're neither pests nor major tourist attractions.
We know it's not our Zebra Swallowtail by the red stripes. However, individuals may not always show clear red stripes. Not much variation is reported, and such variations as are known are believed to be individual rather than sub-specific.
Small Kites are among the attractions of Panama's Eco-Park. They are also found in Colombia and Venezuela.
Another reason for the lack of information about this species is that different scientists call it by different names. Protographium and Neographium were genus names proposed in the nineteenth century; some scientists want to revive the genus name Protographium. The species was sometimes called arcesilaus. However, not much information is available online under those names either.
What has been printed about them has often been misleading. Some otherwise authoritative-looking sources misspell the older genus name as Photographium. An 1852 entomologist reported that they inhabit North America; they have sometimes been found in North America but are not regular residents.
Some think they must be very closely "related" to our Zebra Swallowtails; others think they belong in a different genus.
Rothschild wrote, more than a hundred years ago, that the early stages were not known. This does not seem to have changed.
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