Byasa crassipes, the black windmill, is a butterfly found in India and Southeast Asia that belongs to the windmills genus, Byasa, comprising tailed black swallowtail butterflies with white spots and red submarginal crescents.

Black windmill
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Byasa
Species:
B. crassipes
Binomial name
Byasa crassipes
(Oberthür, 1879)[1]

Range

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Northeast India (Manipur), Myanmar (southern Shan states), northern Thailand, northern Laos, northern Vietnam (Tonkin), and possibly southern China.[2]

Status

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The black windmill is very rare and is protected by law in India. More information is required on this species.

Description

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The wingspan is 110–120 mm. It is a black butterfly which is unmarked except for obscure red spots on the upper hindwing. The tail is red tipped below.

Male upperside: Forewing dark fuliginous (sooty) black, with black veins, a longitudinal streak between the veins and streaks within the cell. Hindwing very narrow anteriorly and much prolonged posteriorly, exterior margin broadly scalloped, tail very broad and short; abdominal margin with a very long folded lappet, which when opened displays a lengthened greyish-white woolly androconial patch; colour dull greyish black, with two upper marginal and two sub-anal lunules, tip of the tail very obscure dusky red. Underside: forewing paler. Hindwing dull black, with the two upper and lower marginal lunules, an irregular-shaped anal lunule, and the tail tip bright crimson. Thorax and abdomen above black; front of head and thorax and abdomen beneath crimson; abdomen beneath with black segmental bands; hind tibiae very thick; antennae and legs black.[3]

Taxonomy

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No separate subspecies have been described.

Habits

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Recorded from Manipur between 1,000 and 2,500 ft (300 and 760 m).

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Häuser, Christoph L.; de Jong, Rienk; Lamas, Gerardo; Robbins, Robert K.; Smith, Campbell; Vane-Wright, Richard I. (28 July 2005). "Papilionidae – revised GloBIS/GART species checklist (2nd draft)". Entomological Data Information System. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  2. ^ Philip Lo (Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong); International), Eresha Fernando (BirdLife; Moonen, Jan; Kehimkar, Isaac; Jangid, Ashish (2019-02-28). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Byasa crassipes". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2020-3.rlts.t121971897a176105416.en. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  3. ^ Bingham, C.T. (1907). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. II (1st ed.). London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd.
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