Atrophaneura dasarada

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Great Windmill

Atrophaneura dasarada female

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Atrophaneura
Species:	A. dasarada

Binomial name

Atrophaneura dasarada
Moore, 1857

Great Windmill Atrophaneura dasarada is a beautiful butterfly found in India that belongs to the Windmills group of Atrophaneura, comprising tailed black swallowtail butterflies with white spots and red submarginal crescents.

1 Range
2 Status
3 Taxonomy
4 Description
5 Habits
6 Life History
7 Food plant
8 References
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] Range

Northern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, south-eastern China (including Hainan island (Guangdong province)).

[edit] Status

Not rare and not threatened.

[edit] Taxonomy

Five subspecies. The following occur in the Indian neighbourhood :-

Atrophaneura dasarada dasarada Moore. Sikkim to Assam. Not rare.
Atrophaneura dasarada ravana Moore. Kashmir to Kumaon. Not rare.
Atrophaneura dasarada barata Rothschild. Myanmar. Rare.

[edit] Description

Wingspan : 100 to 140mm.
The butterflies resemble the Common Windmill but are usually larger with broader tails.
The upper hindwing marginal crescent is white or cream-coloured.
Sexes similar. The female often has a complete discal band of white spots on the hindwing.

[edit] Habits

The Great Windmill is a woodland butterfly. It can often be spotted slowly and gracefully flying across clearings. It flies between 4000 to 9000 feet in the spring and summer. It's habits resemble those of the Common Windmill.

[edit] Life History

Egg - not described.
Caterpillar -
- The ground colour of the larva varies in shades of grey and has a pattern of black lines. It has an orange osmeterium.
- The larva has a large number of tubercles arranged in two lateral and two sub-dorsal rows. The third and fourth segments have an additional pair of tubercles. The tubercles all have red tips, except those on the seventh and eighth segments which are almost entirely dirty white and the eleventh segment which has the same colour on just the tips of the tubercles.
The pupa is yellow-green in colour with blue bands. It is has an orange protuberance on its back. It is attached to its support by a black body and anal pad. The pupa emits a squeak when touched.

[edit] Food plant

Aristolochia griffithi.

[edit] References

Collins, N.M. & Morris, M.G. (1985) Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World. IUCN. ISBN 2-88032-603-6
Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India
Haribal, Meena (1994) Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History.
Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.