Byasa plutonius, the Chinese windmill, is a butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the windmills genus (Byasa), comprising tailed black swallowtail butterflies with white spots and red submarginal crescents.
| Chinese windmill | |
|---|---|
_-_Pink-spotted_Windmill_WLB_IMG_1141_2.jpg)
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| Subspecies A. p. pembertoni | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Genus: | Byasa |
| Species: | B. plutonius
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| Binomial name | |
| Byasa plutonius | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Atrophaneura plutonius | |
The two subspecies in the Indian subcontinent have the common names of Pemberton's windmill and Tytler's windmill.
Range edit
This butterfly lives in south-western China, Bhutan, Nepal and north-east India.
In India, it is found in the states of Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.
Status edit
A rare species of high elevations, two subspecies are protected in India:
- B. p. pembertoni, Pemberton's Chinese windmill (may be contracted to Pemberton's windmill)
- B. p. tytleri, Tytler's Chinese windmill (may be contracted to Tytler's windmill)
Taxonomy edit
There are three subspecies.
Description edit
- Wingspan: 100–120 mm.
- Tail black in both sexes.
- Male: Above, brownish black and unmarked except for a row of markings.
- Pemberton's windmill (Sikkim, Bhutan) - This row from veins 2 to 6 on the upper hindwing consists of whitish marginal spots.
- Tytler's windmill (Manipur, Naga and Chin hills) - This row consists of prominent black marginal spots on the upper hindwing and small red spot in vein 2.
- Female: Above, paler. The female has traces of red lunules on the margins from veins 3 to 6 on the upper hindwing.
References edit
- ^ 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.
- Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN 978-2-88032-603-6 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
- Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
- Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.
External links edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atrophaneura plutonius.
- Global Butterfly Information System - Text, images of syntype.
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