Battus (butterfly)

Taxobox
name = "Battus"

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image_width = 200px
image_caption = Pipevine swallowtail "Battus philenor"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia = Papilionidae
subfamilia = Papilioninae
tribus = Troidini
genus = "Battus"
genus_authority = Scop., 1777
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
*"Battus crassus"
*"Battus polydamas"
*"Battus philenor"

"Battus" is a genus of butterflies that are usually found around pipevine (genus "Aristolochia") plants. The caterpillars feed off the poisonous pipevines, making the insects poisonous themselves; they taste very bad to ward off predators (Pinheiro 1996). Since birds avoid these butterflies, other swallowtail species mimic their coloration. The common North American species are "Battus polydamas" and "Battus philenor".

References

* Pinheiro, Carlos E. G. (1996): Palatablility and escaping ability in Neotropical butterflies: tests with wild kingbirds ("Tyrannus melancholicus", Tyrannidae). "Biol. J. Linn. Soc." 59(4): 351–365. [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/bj/1996/00000059/00000004/art00069 HTML abstract]

External links

*http://www.insects-online.de/infosystem/Battus/battus01.htm
*http://bugguide.net/node/view/222