Post by Adam Cotton on Dec 28, 2013 14:11:11 GMT -8
I have noticed for some years now that specimens offered for sale in various dealers' websites, eBay etc etc as Papilio lowii are often in reality not actually that pure-bred taxon at all.
These specimens are bred in farms in the Philippines, and unfortunately have been 'contaminated' by cross-breeding with Papilio memnon, perhaps accidentally, perhaps deliberately. I know that some Philippine breeders have tried to make new species to con people out of cash (eg the case of Papilio luzviae).
However it is just as possible that breeders put adult Papilio lowii and Papilio memnon in the same flight cages not realising that they would interbreed, which of course they did since lowii is just a tailed subspecies of Papilio memnon. Over many years the butterfly farmers in the Philippines have been swapping livestock, or selling pupae to each other to breed themselves, and I guess that the 'hybrid' stock has spread throughout the Philippine butterfly breeding community.
I have a box of papered so called Papilio lowii that I bought from a deadstock dealer in about 2006. When I asked him about their strange appearance on receipt he admitted to me that they were hybrids, so I never spread any of them. This means that he at least knew that they were not real Papilio lowii, and had no qualms about selling them as such.
As an example, here are photos of some hybrids I found for sale on the internet today as Papilio lowii:
I made a photo of examples of my real Papilio memnon lowii from Palawan, obtained in 1984. This subspecies only has 2 female forms, suffusus (the dark one) and zephyria (with a pale patch on the hindwing) and both are tailed. Note especially that the base of the forewing upperside of the female is black or at most has a faint red mark, not a complete red triangle as in some other subspecies, such as Papilio memnon agenor.
I am posting this information so that everyone can see the difference, and know how to tell real lowii from those hybrids generally available for sale. I am not saying that all lowii on the market are hybrids, but at least people will be able to tell the real ones from the hybrids.
Of course it is best to obtain specimens that actually come from Palawan, rather than bred specimens which Philippine dealers bought from Marinduque, Mindoro etc farms.
Adam.
These specimens are bred in farms in the Philippines, and unfortunately have been 'contaminated' by cross-breeding with Papilio memnon, perhaps accidentally, perhaps deliberately. I know that some Philippine breeders have tried to make new species to con people out of cash (eg the case of Papilio luzviae).
However it is just as possible that breeders put adult Papilio lowii and Papilio memnon in the same flight cages not realising that they would interbreed, which of course they did since lowii is just a tailed subspecies of Papilio memnon. Over many years the butterfly farmers in the Philippines have been swapping livestock, or selling pupae to each other to breed themselves, and I guess that the 'hybrid' stock has spread throughout the Philippine butterfly breeding community.
I have a box of papered so called Papilio lowii that I bought from a deadstock dealer in about 2006. When I asked him about their strange appearance on receipt he admitted to me that they were hybrids, so I never spread any of them. This means that he at least knew that they were not real Papilio lowii, and had no qualms about selling them as such.
As an example, here are photos of some hybrids I found for sale on the internet today as Papilio lowii:
I made a photo of examples of my real Papilio memnon lowii from Palawan, obtained in 1984. This subspecies only has 2 female forms, suffusus (the dark one) and zephyria (with a pale patch on the hindwing) and both are tailed. Note especially that the base of the forewing upperside of the female is black or at most has a faint red mark, not a complete red triangle as in some other subspecies, such as Papilio memnon agenor.
I am posting this information so that everyone can see the difference, and know how to tell real lowii from those hybrids generally available for sale. I am not saying that all lowii on the market are hybrids, but at least people will be able to tell the real ones from the hybrids.
Of course it is best to obtain specimens that actually come from Palawan, rather than bred specimens which Philippine dealers bought from Marinduque, Mindoro etc farms.
Adam.
Do not like to have unnatural specimens in my collection. 
