Lamproptera Gray 1832

Lamproptera Gray, 1832

Lamproptera Gray, 1832: pl 102, fig. 4 [no text]. Type species by monotypy: Papilio curius Fabricius, 1787.

Leptocircus Swainson, 1833: pl. 106. Type species by monotypy: Papilio curius Fabricius, 1787. [Invalid: junior objective synonym of Lamproptera.]

Lamprosura Boisduval, 1836: 380. Type species by monotypy: Papilio curius Fabricius, 1787. [Invalid: introduced in synonymy, and junior objective synonym of Lamproptera.]

All dragontails have a very unusual adult phenotype for a swallowtail butterfly, with the hindwings some 20% longer than the short forewings, and the hindwing tails very long, equal to or even longer than the main hindwing itself. As a result, the hindwing, measured from wing base to the end of the intact tail (tip of extended vein M 3), is at least twice the length of the forewing as measured from the base to the end of vein R 2, and often considerably longer. No other swallowtail has such an extreme difference in total fore- and hind-wing length (not even swordtails, Graphium subgenus Pathysa), and this characteristic alone is sufficient to mark Lamproptera out as a natural group, to which all three species discussed below clearly belong.

As a member of the Papilionidae, Lamproptera has, as expected, a larval osmeterium (confirmed by Howarth 1976, and Igarashi 1979, for L. curius; Igarashi & Fukuda 2000, for L. meges), and vein 2A of the forewing runs free toward the posterior margin (Tsukada & Nishiyama 1980b; as “3A” in Bascombe et al. 1999, fig. 6.12; characters 1 and 3 respectively, in Miller 1987). As members of the subfamily Papilioninae, among other characters, the dragontails have a basal spur to the cubito-vannal vein in the forewing, together with a single anal vein 1A+2A in the hindwing (characters 19 and 7 respectively, in Miller 1987; Bascombe et al. 1999, fig. 6.12). These features, other than the presence of an osmeterium in the unknown larva of the new species, are confirmed for all three species discussed below.

As members of the Leptocircini, morphological characters of Lamproptera include: hindwing r-m cross-vein sinuate (difficult to appreciate in Lamproptera due to the extreme reduction of the hindwing discal cell: Miller 1987, character 46); aedeagus bell-shaped at base (Miller 1987, character 47); and articulated dorsolateral sclerite of male genital valve (Miller 1987, character 48). These features are confirmed here for all three species included below. Other autapomorphies of the Leptocircini noted by Miller (1987) mostly concern the early stages and the female sex, which are not available for the new species.

According to Miller (1987, clade 8D), within the Leptocircini, Lamproptera forms a group with Iphiclides and Graphium s. l. marked by two synapomorphies: pointed aedeagus (Miller 1987, character 63) and dorsolaterally narrowed tegumen (Miller 1987, character 64). These features are confirmed for all three species here included in Lamproptera.

Lamproptera can be grouped with Graphium to the exclusion of Iphiclides by possession of apparently unique larval and pupal characters, and sharply narrowed tentorial crests—a feature of the internal anatomy not studied here (Miller 1987, characters 69, 70, 72). Miller (1987, character 71) also noted that (Graphium + Lamproptera) can be supported by the middle discocellular vein (mdc) in the forewing being shorter than the upper discocellular (udc)—although this feature does recur in Battus (Papilioninae: Troidini). As also pointed out by Miller (1987), although the forewing udc in Lamproptera is longer than the mdc, the orientation of the discocellular veins in this genus is unique. This configuration of the forewing discocellular veins is confirmed for all three Lamproptera species included here.

For genus Lamproptera Miller (1987, clade 8G) notes several autapomorphies, including: pseuduncus absent (Miller 1987, character 67), very small hindwing discal cell (Miller 1987, character 73), upper angle of forewing discal cell acute (Miller 1987, character 74), and forewing veins R 3 and R 4 “long stalked”, with R 5 arising from R 3+4 shortly beyond the end of the discal cell (Miller 1987, character 75). These characters are confirmed for all three species now included in the genus.