Papilio Liomedon (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles The Malabar Banded Swallowtail (Papilio liomedon) is a beautiful member of the Swallowtail family found in southern India. Earlier considered a subspecies of the Banded Swallowtail (Papilio demolion) of South-east Asia but now considered a distinct species.Similar to Papilio demolion but distinguishable chiefly by the pale greenish-yellow band that crosses the wings starting from the middle and not from just before the middle of the dorsal margin of the hind wing, also this band is composed entirely of separate spots on the fore wing.The IUCN Red Data Book records the Malabar Banded Swallowtail as uncommon and not threatened as a species. However a survey in the early nineties by Harish Gaonkar showed the butterfly to be rare but distributed from Kerala to Goa. The butterfly was considered to be common in Karwar in the past. It is not to be found in Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is protected by law in India.