A specimen of female Papilio deiphobus

[Leonard187]

A specimen of female Papilio deiphobus from my friend, and I supposed that it might be nominated subspecies compared with the specimen from the museum （figure 3A）. However I have some doubts herein.
1. How many subspecies based on recent research？
2. I have seen several pictures of female specimens from different website and some of them are tailless (figure 3B) which is much different with this specimen. Are they different ssp.? or different form just like those of Papilio memnon?
3. I saw some male specimens with or without tails which signed as same ssp. (such as ssp.deiphontes from Sulawesi, figure 3C and 3D). So the male also has different form, or those should be different ssp. or just individual differences?
4. Most specimens have red patch on the ventral surface of hindwings, but someone has yellow patch (figure 3E-3H). Are they different form, or just individual differences due to the synthesis of pigments?
5. Due to ssp.rumanzovia is treated as one subspecies of P.deiphobus, what about its ssp.? Are they also treated as different ssp. of P.deiphobus equally?

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[adamcotton]

Here is my synonymy of Papilio deiphobus:

Papilio deiphobus Linnaeus, 1758
ssp. rumanzovia Eschscholtz, 1821 (TL.: Manilla)
= krusensternia Eschscholtz, 1821 (TL.: Manilla)
= floridor Godart, 1824 (TL.: Philippines)
= emalthion (Hübner, [1824]) (TL.: not stated)
= descombii Roger, 1826 (TL.: Philippines) [Unavailable name]
= descombesi Boisduval, 1836 (TL.: Manilles)
= rumanzowius Fruhstorfer, 1900 [Incorrect Subsequent Spelling]
= ciris Fruhstorfer, 1909 (TL.: Bazilan; Mindoro)
= spinturnix Fruhstorfer, 1909 (TL.: Talaud)
= honorius Fruhstorfer, 1911 (TL.: Sangir) [Junior Homonym]
♀ var. semperinus Haase, 1891 (TL.: Philippinen)
♀-f. eubalia Jordan, 1909 (Siao)
f. ♀ paya Fruhstorfer, 1911 (Sangir)
f. ♀ risena Fruhstorfer, 1911 (Sangir)
f. ♀ carnia Fruhstorfer, 1911 (Sangir)
f. tekichanus Matsumura, 1931 (Formosa)
f. moscai Sala, 1992 (Cebu, Philippinas)
ssp. tarawakana (Page & Treadaway, 1996) (TL.: Tarawakan, Tawitawi)
ssp. deiphontes C. Felder & R. Felder, 1864 (TL.: Ternate, Halmaheira, Batjan)
= deiphontes Wallace, 1865 (TL.: Batchian, Gilolo, Ternate, Morty Isl.) [Junior Homonym]
var. flava Oberthür, 1879 (Ternate)
ssp. deipylus C. Felder & R. Felder, 1865 (TL.: Nova Guinea [loc. err. = Waigeo])
= deipylus C & R Felder, 1864 (Nova Guinea) [Nomen Nudum]
ssp. aristartus Fruhstorfer, 1916 (TL.: Holländisch Neu-Guinea)
ssp. efbensis Talbot, 1932 (TL.: Misol. foothills, 100-500 feet)
ssp. obideiphobus Hachitani, 1989 (TL.: Obi Is.)
ssp. deiphobus Linnaeus, 1758 (TL.: Asia [= Ambon])
= alcandor Cramer, 1776 (TL.: Isle d’Amboine)
ab. hypoxanthos Röber, 1891 (Key Islands)
hypoxanthus Rothschild, 1895 [Incorrect Subsequent Spelling]

Some subspecies have tails, others do not. There are not normally tailed and tailless forms of the same subspecies, unlike P. memnon, although it is possible that occasional specimens may vary. Ssp. deiphobus often has yellow spots instead of red, these were named 'form flava'.

Adam.

[adamcotton]

Your friend's female is almost certainly the nominate subspecies, from Ceram or Ambon.

Adam.

[Leonard187]

Your friend's female is almost certainly the nominate subspecies, from Ceram or Ambon.

Adam.

Thanks for your reply ^0^, and that is very helpful. So many forms for ssp. rumanzovia. I saw a label writing 'Papilio rumanzovia f.deiphontes' before and the phenotype is much similar with figure 3B above, so it should be ssp. deiphontes of Papilio deiphobus, right? The female rumanzovia I have seen is really different with it.

[adamcotton]

Here is one of my boxes of ssp. rumanzovia with a variety of different female forms:

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Some are similar to ssp. deiphontes but they are not that ssp., which comes from N. Moluccas. If they come from the Philippines (except the small island chain SW of Mindanao) then they belong to ssp. rumanzovia.

Adam.

[Leonard187]

Here is one of my boxes of ssp. rumanzovia with a variety of different female forms:

rumanzovia box s.jpg

Some are similar to ssp. deiphontes but they are not that ssp., which comes from N. Moluccas. If they come from the Philippines (except the small island chain SW of Mindanao) then they belong to ssp. rumanzovia.

Adam.

You are so kind and it is amazing. Thank you very much.

[Chuck]

That's amazing, Adam. So many forms! Is each form localized, or are they sympatric?

[adamcotton]

There are two basic female forms, a) black with a red band on the hindwing parallel to the abdomen and b) with a white discal patch on the hindwing but without the red band. There can be considerable variation on these two basic forms, especially in Leyte. The four females (below the male) in the third column from the left are typical forms.

Adam.