Papilionidae

Martinique, Le Diamant, Morne Constant, 2-IX-1998, G. Chovet leg.

Battus polydamas (Linnaeus, 1758)

ssp. neodamas (Lucas, 1852) : Guadeloupe.
ssp. xenodamas (Hübner, 1825) : Martinique.

Polydamas Swallowtail

Systematics

This species, although uniform in continental America, shows considerable variation in the Antilles where almost every island has its own subspecies.

Biology and distribution

Larva on Aristolochia, especially Aristolochia trilobata Linnaeus, (Aristolochiaceae).

Martinique (B. p. xenodamas): uncommon, often in gardens.
Guadeloupe (B. p. neodamas): very common everywhere.
Marie-Galante (B. p. neodamas).

Antigua (B. p. antiquus (Rothschild & Jordan), apparently extinct), St-Kitts, Montserrat and (?) Nevis (B. p. christopheranus (Hall)), Dominica (B. p. dominicus (Rothschild & Jordan)), St-Lucia (B. p. lucianus (Rothschild & Jordan)), St-Vincent (B. p. vincentius (Rothschild & Jordan)), Grenada and Grenadines (B. p. grenadensis (Hall)).
Bahamas (B. p. lucayus (Rothschild & Jordan)), Cuba (B. p. cubensis (Dufrane)), Jamaica (B. p. jamaicensis (Rothschild & Jordan)), Hispaniola (B. p. polycrates (Hopffer)), Puerto-Rico and Virgin Islands (B. p. thyamus (Rothschild & Jordan)).

Florida (B. p. lucayus) and continental America, from Georgia to Argentina (B. p. polydamas).

Legend

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