Skip to main content

Great mormon swallowtail (Papilio memnon)

Pastur butterfly or great mormon swallowtail (Papilio memnon) is an animal species in Papilionidae, large size, has more than 14 subspecies, very polymorphism, especially females for color and shape, males are more dominated by black color, live in tropical open forests and agricultural land.

P. memnon has a wingspan of 120-163 mm with a very varied color pattern for at least 26 forms of color patterns in females and four forms of color patterns in males. Many of these are mimicry of species of butterflies that predators don't like to eat. Generally has a tail on the back, but some subspecies do not.

Dlium Great mormon swallowtail (Papilio memnon)


The male has a front wing length of 62.7 mm, a rear wing length of 39.6 mm, a body length of 33.6 mm and an antenna length of 22.6 mm. Front wings on top surface with dark to black color. Sometimes there is a red spot near the base.

Females have a front wing length of 62.7 mm, a rear wing length of 39.6 mm, a body length of 33.6 mm and an antenna length of 22.6 mm. The forewings on the upper surface are sepia with grayish-white and red streaks near the base. The upper surface of the hind wings is black or blue with 5-7 white patches.

Larvae feed on leaves from citrus species, especially pomelo (Citrus grandis) and lime (Citrus aurantifolia). Imago lays a single egg under the leaves and it will hatch in three days. Instars look like bird droppings. The pupal process takes 2.5 weeks. Eggs are spherical, yellow, 1.3 mm in diameter.



Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Papilionidae
Subfamily: Papilioninae
Tribe: Papilionini
Genus: Papilio
Subgenus: Menelaides
Species: Papilio memnon

Popular Posts

Thomas Sutikna lives with Homo floresiensis

BLOG - On October 28, 2004, a paper was published in Nature describing the dwarf hominin we know today as Homo floresiensis that has shocked the world. The report changed the geographical landscape of early humans that previously stated that the Pleistocene Asia was only represented by two species, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens . The report titled "A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia" written by Peter Brown and Mike J. Morwood from the University of New England with Thomas Sutikna, Raden Pandji Soejono, Jatmiko, E. Wahyu Saptomo and Rokus Awe Due from the National Archaeology Research Institute (ARKENAS), Indonesia, presents more diversity in the genus Homo. “Immediately, my fever vanished. I couldn’t sleep well that night. I couldn’t wait for sunrise. In the early morning we went to the site, and when we arrived in the cave, I didn’t say a thing because both my mind and heart couldn’t handle this incredible moment. I just went down...

Large-leaved uvaria (Uvaria littoralis)

Kalak or large-leaved uvaria ( Uvaria littoralis ) is a species of plant in Annonaceae, shrub or small tree, erect, woody, young branches are blackish brown with white spots, growing in clumps on the shaded forest floor, in teak forests, clay soil, limestone and rocky rocks. U. littoralis has leaves in rows along the branches, zigzag, very short stalks and sitting alternately. The leaf blade is up to 25 cm long, up to 10 cm wide, pointed tip, heart base, a main vein in the middle with many small pinnate veins. Fan-shaped flowers, blood red, yellow center. Fruits grow at the end of the bunch and radial with a 1-2 cm long stalk. Young fruit is round and yellow, ripe fruit is oval or elongated and red to blackish blue. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Magnoliales Family: Annonaceae Tribe: Uvarieae Genus: Uvaria Species: Uvaria littoralis

Mashpi walkingstick (Trychopeplus mashpiensis) from Chocó, Ecuador, based on males, females and eggs

NEWS - Researchers report Mashpi walkingstick ( Trychopeplus mashpiensis Conle, Valero & Hennemann, sp. nov.) from the Chocó ecoregion of northwestern Ecuador is new to science based on its unique body ornamentation and egg structure morphology. Trychopeplus Shelford 1909 is a genus of Neotropical stick insects (Phasmida Leach 1815) known for its remarkable morphological adaptations that allow it to blend in almost perfectly with epiphytic lichens in its habitat. These adaptations make Trychopeplus one of the most cryptic stick insect genera. The genus was described to distinguish the Neotropical species from Pericentrus Redtenbacher 1908 based on morphological differences and distinct geographic distribution compared to the type species Pericentrus moewisi Redtenbacher 1908. Pericentrus is known to be restricted to East and South Asia, whereas Trychopeplus is endemic to the Neotropics. Oskar Conle from the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Germany, Pablo Valero from the Un...