Graphium porthaon
species of insect
Graphium porthaon, the coastal swordtail, cream-striped swordtail or dark swordtail, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae, found in tropical western Africa.
The wingspan is 55–60 mm in males and 60–65 mm in females. External images from Royal Museum of Central Africa.The species has continuous broods during warmer months.
The larvae feed on Artabotrys monteiroae, Annona, Uvaria, Friesodielsia obovata, Cleistochlamys kirkii, Monodora junodii, Monanthotaxis caffra, Uvaria caffra, and Uvaria kirkii.
Subspecies
Graphium porthaon porthaon (Hewitson, 1865) (coast of Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, northern Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland)
Graphium porthaon tanganyikae Kielland, 1978 (Tanzania: Kigoma district)
Graphium porthaon mackiei Collins & Larsen, 1991 (Kenya, Tanzania)
Taxonomy
It is a member of the Graphium policenes-clade (policenes, Graphium liponesco, Graphium biokoensis, Graphium policenoides, Graphium porthaon.)
Aurivillius in Seitz places porthaon, policenes,sisenna (polistratus), polistratus, junodi, nigrescens (policenoides) and collona in the Policenes Group Subgroup 2 circumscribed Hindwing with a long, narrow tail of uniform width at vein 4. Frons black with white lateral margins. Wings above with green or greenish white markings. Cell of the forewing with 5 — 6 transverse bands or spots. Both wings with submarginal spots. Hindwing beneath with a so-called ornamental band, formed of red spots.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Graphium porthaon” is species of insect. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Graphium, porthaon and species, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “species of insect” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5597296. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1865, 1978 and 1991.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Graphium porthaon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.