Post by Adam Cotton on Aug 29, 2013 8:55:08 GMT -8
Yunnan has 2 subspecies of machaon (excluding the high altitude short tailed ssp in NW Yunnan), ssp venchuanus in the Yangtse valley and ssp. verityi in the Red River, Mekong and Salween Valleys.
Ssp. venchuanus normally has a single black crescent over the red anal eyespot (sometimes double) and is found across most of China, whereas ssp. verityi always has a double black crescent, and usually has longer tails. As well as southern and western Yunnan it is found in Hagiang (northernmost Vietnam), Burma from Shan States northwards and in Manipur, India. It has not yet been found in northern Laos but could be there.
Kunming is a difficult place to delineate the subspecies clearly, theoretically it should belong to ssp venchuanus, but it seems to be one area where the two subspecies meet at least occasionally, and genetic interchange takes place. It is possible that your specimen is unusual due to the conditions under which it was reared, but also possible that it is due to hybridisation between the two subspecies. Indeed verityi has been regarded as a separate species by a few authors, eg. Lee, 1980. I found similar unusual extension of the red anal eyespot in hybrids between machaon from Europe and Japan (ssp. hippocrates).
Adam.
Ssp. venchuanus normally has a single black crescent over the red anal eyespot (sometimes double) and is found across most of China, whereas ssp. verityi always has a double black crescent, and usually has longer tails. As well as southern and western Yunnan it is found in Hagiang (northernmost Vietnam), Burma from Shan States northwards and in Manipur, India. It has not yet been found in northern Laos but could be there.
Kunming is a difficult place to delineate the subspecies clearly, theoretically it should belong to ssp venchuanus, but it seems to be one area where the two subspecies meet at least occasionally, and genetic interchange takes place. It is possible that your specimen is unusual due to the conditions under which it was reared, but also possible that it is due to hybridisation between the two subspecies. Indeed verityi has been regarded as a separate species by a few authors, eg. Lee, 1980. I found similar unusual extension of the red anal eyespot in hybrids between machaon from Europe and Japan (ssp. hippocrates).
Adam.