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Papilio phorcas

Papilio phorcas

Cramer, 1775

Family: Papilionidae
Order: Lepidoptera
Class: Insecta
Phylum / Division: Arthropoda
Kingdom: Animalia

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Description


Papilio phorcas, the apple-green swallowtail or green-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa.

The larvae feed on Teclea nobilis, Teclea simplicifolia, Macrostylis villosa, Vepris, Calodendrum, Clausena, Citrus, Fagara and Toddalia species.

 A tailed species. The ground colour is black, with green markings.

Taxonomy: Papilio phorcas is a member of the dardanus species group. The members of the clade are:
  • Papilio dardanus Brown, 1776
  • Papilio constantinus Ward, 1871
  • Papilio delalandei Godart, [1824]
  • Papilio phorcas Cramer, [1775]
  • Papilio rex Oberthür, 1886


Subspecies: 
  • P. p. phorcas (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria)
  • P. p. ansorgei Rothschild, 1896. (Kenya (highland forest east of the Rift Valley))
  • P. p. congoanus Rothschild, 1896 (Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, northern Angola, Congo Republic, western Uganda, western Tanzania, northern Zambia)
  • P. p. nyikanus Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (highland forest of north-eastern Zambia, Malawi and eastern Tanzania)
  • P. p. ruscoei Krüger, 1928 (eastern Uganda, Kenya (highlands west of the Rift Valley))
  • P. p. sudanicola Storace, 1965 (southern Sudan)
  • P. p. tenuifasciatus Kielland, 1990 (northern Tanzania, Kenya)
  • P. p. bardamu Canu, 1994 (Bioko Island)


Biogeographic realm: Afrotropical realm.

Source: Wikipedia, article Papilio phorcas. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 18/07/2026.





Geographic distribution


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Species photographs

Count: 1

Foto
Photography ID: 670637
  Adult

Parque Nacional Lago Mburo
Western Region
Uganda
01/13/2026
Hugo Caverzasi


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Species records

Count: 1



Page 1 of 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
242540613/01/2026UgandaWestern RegionParque Nacional Lago MburoHugo Caverzasi
Page 1 of 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Papilio phorcas – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 14/09/2026.