Battus SCOPOLI, 1777

Battus Scopoli, 1777 Papilionidae: Papilioninae: Troidini

Original description: Scopoli, G.A. 1777. Introductio ad historiam naturalem; p. 433.
Type-species: Papilio polydamas Linnaeus, 1758, by selection by Lindsey (1925:80).

Common name(s): [various languages, if applicable]

 # of species: 12.

Battus belus (Cramer, 1777)
Battus chalceus (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906)
Battus crassus (Cramer, 1777)
Battus devilliersii (Godart, 1823)
Battus eracon (Godman & Salvin, 1897)
Battus laodamas (Felder & Felder, 1859)
Battus lycidas (Cramer, 1777)
Battus madyes (Doubleday, 1846)
Battus philenor (Linnaues, 1771)
Battus polydamas (Linnaeus, 1758)
Battus polystictus (Butler, 1874)
Battus zetides Munroe, 1971

Geography & distribution:
Range: New World; from southeastern Canada and the eastern United States throughout Central and South America to northern Argentina and central Chile; the highest species richness occurs in Central America in southern Mexico (6 species), and in South America along the northern Andes in Ecuador and northern Peru (6 species).

Distribution of Battus and number of species per area.

Classification & taxonomy:
Battus is generally regarded as the most primitive genus within the entire tribe Troidini, and is therefore placed as the only member in a separate subtribe Battina. It phylogenetic terms, the genus Battus is seen to represent the sister-group of all remaining Troidini. The genus has in the past often been subdivided into two species groups, one centered around B. philenor and including a varying number of related species depending on the author(s). As there are also different views about the composition of the second group, the subdivision of Battus is still contentious and requires further study. The following available generic names are therefore treated here as full synonyms at generic level.

Laertias Hübner, [1819]
Original description: Hübner, J. 1816-1826. Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, (6): 84.
Type-species: Papilio philenor Linnaeus, 1771, by selection by Scudder (1872:64).

Ithoballus Hübner, [1819]
Original description: Hübner, J. 1816-1826. Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, (6): 88.
Type-species: Papilio polydamas Linnaeus, 1758, by selection by Scudder (1875:198).

Invalid as an objective synonym of Battus Scopoli, 1777.

Morphology & identification:
Diagnosis [description]: adult: wingspan / forewing length: mm; . larva: .

Ecology:
Habitat: From sea level to about m. Phenology:
larval host[plant]s: larvae exclusively on members of the genus Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae).

References & Contacts
Miller (1987); Parsons (1996); Racheli & Pariset (1992); Rothschild & Jordan (1906); Tyler et al. (1994)

	last update 2002-05-03
	©  Joachim Holstein, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany