Masculine Identifiers. Chequered Swallowtail, Papilio demoleus, Butterfly House, ARTIS Amsterdam Zoo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae (1758) great Linnaeus gave scientific binonial names to Butterflies (Papilio). He drew the specifics from six groups derived from Greek mythology virtually emptying out the list of possible names. Thus our Swallowtail was placed in the group Equites Achivi (=Greek Soldiers of the Trojan War). Demoleus was one of them; he was slain by Aeneas, important defender of Troy. It is unknown why Linnaeus chose that specific name for this Flier, as indeed the specifics for the 200 or so others that he identified.
The photo shows a male, which can be identified as such by the shape and color of the red tornal spots. Those of the females have a more blue border.
Masculine Identifiers. Chequered Swallowtail, Papilio demoleus, Butterfly House, ARTIS Amsterdam Zoo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae (1758) great Linnaeus gave scientific binonial names to Butterflies (Papilio). He drew the specifics from six groups derived from Greek mythology virtually emptying out the list of possible names. Thus our Swallowtail was placed in the group Equites Achivi (=Greek Soldiers of the Trojan War). Demoleus was one of them; he was slain by Aeneas, important defender of Troy. It is unknown why Linnaeus chose that specific name for this Flier, as indeed the specifics for the 200 or so others that he identified.
The photo shows a male, which can be identified as such by the shape and color of the red tornal spots. Those of the females have a more blue border.