Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly

[Yousef]

Good evening all,

For the last 3 weeks I was trying to get a shot of this butterfly but with no success.. not even a single shot!!


But today I managed to get my shot :D
It's my only shot for her :o

[Sandman]

Nice!!

[Yousef]

Thanks Tommy :)

I still cannot believe how fast this butterfly can be!!!

[Sandman]

Where was it taken?
(tired of me always asking this yet?) :D

[Yousef]

lol

Not at all Tommy.. well, isn't why we're having this forum? ;)
anway.. it's the same answer.. the same place.. the same park :)

[Sandman]

Thx Yousef

[ajmal]

Hi Yousef,

Nice pic, bro. Ur swallowtail looks more like an Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon-range covers the Arabian peninsula) rather than a Citrus Swallowtail (Papilio demodocus-range covering subsaharan Africa) to me..... I had come across one of these recently in Kalba and it really is diff. to image as it keeps flutterin about and does not land often.

great going......... :)

Regards,

[Yousef]

Hi Ajmal,
Thanks for the info bro. Still be looking side by side for both "old world" & "Citrus" I believe it's more to be an "Citrus" than the other one.. in both colors & the shape of it's wings.
still not sure since i'm not an expert here.. You might be right & wish if someone can confirm it for sure.



[QUOTE=ajmal;8530]
I had come across one of these recently in Kalba and it really is diff. to image as it keeps flutterin about and does not land often.
[QUOTE]

You don't need to tell me.. maaaan this one made me sick!!! :mad:

[ajmal]

I agree, Yousef. Hard to tell on these... Hope we get some expert insight into this. Look at the bright side, these difficult-to-image butterflies are getting us to exercise more ;) makes the photo much more worthy methinks... hehe

Ciao for now,

Ajmal

[Clive]

Thanks Tommy :)

I still cannot believe how fast this butterfly can be!!!

Try getting there early, most butterflies are slower in the early morning, also if you find they have a favourite bush try throwing a sheet over it with a hole and pulling out one flower stem, it won't have much choice where to land then.

[ajmal]

Yousef!! Bro, ur right man. This isnt P. machaon at all (does not have the prominent tails on the hindwings). Its either P. demodocus or P. demoleus. I stand corrected :)
Just downloaded 'Butterflies of Oman' from the ENHG website where I got the enlightenment from. I recommend you download the searchable PDF document as it really helps man......

Regards,

Ajmal

[Yousef]

Hi Ajmal,
Sure i'll do :)
as for the butterfly.. I believe it not even one of the swallowtail family..i think it's a Lime butterfly!!! :confused:

[ajmal]

Hi Yousef, apparently Lime butterflies are from the Swallowtail family (or Papilio). They are called Lime or Citrus as they are thought to relish Citrus or Lime trees, where available. All this learned by me thanks to the pdf book ;) I cant find the link anymore so PM me your email account and I'll send you the pdf.

Rgds,

[Yousef]

Hi Ajmal,
I found both "Insects of Eastern Arabia" & "Butterflies of Oman" pdf files thanks to you. The thing is i was believing that this one was the Citrus Swallowtail bf till i met one expert guy who told me it's not!! based on his info that lime bf looks like the swallowtails but are not the same family!
now by reading the "Butterflies of Oman" i found that the lime bf is still under the Swallowtails family which made me in a big confuse right now!
once i got back home i'll do some serious searching about this to confirm. In case you have any other resourses plz share it with me :)
Thanks a lot Ajaml

wish you a great day

[ajmal]

Thanks, Yousef. Ok.... Now you've got me a bit confused too ;) Anyway, Im going by 'BF of Oman' on this as I did some other reading online which all points to the Citrus (or Lime) BF being in the Swallowtail family. I hope we get some expert info on this right here.

Regards,

[reimerb]

One thing to remember is that Butterflies of Oman is an old book. There have been changes in taxonomy in the thirty or so years since it was written although it doesn't appear that there has been a change for this species. A possibility is that your other informant was talking about the common or vernacular name for the butterfly and he's familiar with a different one or may be referring to the fact that this doesn't have the familiar "Swallowtail" tails on the hind wings.