Graphium simoni, the Tan Lady, is another butterfly that is very little known. It was described and listed as a species only in 1899. It is very similar to last week's species, Graphium schubotzi, and to more than a dozen other Graphium species; many sources currently list the count at sixteen species that, if they are distinct species, could probably be crossbred. It has a wide range, Cameroon, all three "Congo" nations, Nigeria, and Gabon, occasionally even Angola, but seems to be uncommon throughout its range.
Photo by Koenbetjes, October, Lompole in the Kinshasa region.
Most of the Internet pages that list this species are only lists of species. Some authorities list this one as a subspecies of Graphium ucalegon.
Photo by Koenbetjes, October, Oshwe in the Kinshasa region. All (four) digital photos of this species alive were taken by Koenbetjes at different places on what seems to have been the same tour.
As regular readers know so well by now, there is a whole family of butterflies who look very similar to the Swordtails except that they don't have sword-shaped tails on their hind wings. Because they were named by Victorian Englishmen, they are called Ladies, though most of the individuals photographed are found displaying typically male behavior.
That is to say, they are sipping water from sand. They like brackish water. All Swallowtail butterflies need some mineral salts in their all-liquid diet, but males actually drink salty or bitter water in order to accumulate surplus minerals that will be transferred to the females when they mate, thus allowing the females to live on clean water and sweet flower nectar alone. Males often gather at large puddles in large groups, but while some Swallowtails are comfortable in crowds that include dozens of their own species, others like to be the only male of their species within half a mile. This is a clue to what they eat and how abundant it is. Our Zebra Swallowtails avoid one another in most of their range, but relax and become gregarious in a few places where their host plant, the pawpaw tree, is very abundant. Similar dynamics seem to shape the behavior of their tropical "cousin" species.
Whatever Graphium simoni eat seems not to be abundant. Nobody mentions finding even small flocks of these little fellows. The one Koenbetjes found displaying his tan color was in a different park, miles away from the one showing his white band.
Female Swallowtails may actually be far less numerous than males, in some species--in some animal species nature produces a lot of surplus males who die without reproducing. Or they may just be better at hiding in the tropical rain forest. The woods where they live are dense and not friendly to humans. The butterflies are dark-colored, like shade, and often flit through the tree canopy. Even if people see them, they're unlikely to get a clear photo.
Nothing is known about the life cycle of Graphium simoni. Studying these likable butterflies could make some African student famous.
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