Butterfly of the Week: Heraclides Chiansiades

"Who was Chiansiades"? No one was. This week's butterfly is very similar to Heraclides anchisiades so it was given a name that reminds us of anchisiades. 

Photo from INaturalist.

It is common and considered a "species of least concern." Since it's large, with a wingspan typically about four and a half inches, and devours a variety of leaves and fruits in the pepper and citrus families, some people wish it were rare. In a field planted with just one species for the farmers' convenience, insects find it convenient to reproduce like fleas; many species will destroy their host plants and move on.When insects have to travel past things they can't eat to get to more things they can eat, they are better able to maintain a healthy balance with their host plants. 

There are usually now counted as four subspecies: H.c. chiansiades, dospassosi, maroni, and mossi. Maroni used to be listed as a separate species. (Though "Maroni" is a family name, the butterflies were probably named after the Maroni River, near which they were found.) The subspecies correspond roughly to countries on the map, being found in Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil in that order. Some count specimens of maroni found in French Guiana as maripasoula, a fifth subspecies. 

This one was found in Ecuador, "on the Apuya Road."

All have dark wings with hardly any "swallow tail," white or cream-colored spots on the fore wings, and usually pink spots on the hind wings. This page shows the difference in size and placement of these spots that identify the subspecies:

https://www.butterfliesofamerica.com/L/t/Papilionidae_a.htm

It is not well documented on the Internet, even on older sites where it's still listed as Papilio chiansiades. Citrus growers claim to know the caterpillars, but have not published photos. Even the female of each subspecies is poorly documented, dismissed at one Brazilian site with, in my free translation, "This species shows little sexual dimorphism. The pink spots on the hind wings are larger than the pale spots on the fore wings of the female, opposite to the male." 

Here is a fine opportunity for South American students to become famous.