InsectNet forum

Here is another cool looking and powerfully built
papilio (Graphium) species. Looks like it would be
hard to see amongst the foliage of its native land.
Probably, tough to capture as well because it seems
packed with muscles....

I corrected the spelling of Graphium hicetaon.

There are 3 very closely related species in this group, G. hicetaon from the Solomon Islands and Bougainville, G. wallacei from the Moluccas and New Guinea and G. browni from New Ireland and New Britain.

It is interesting that females of this species are not uncommon in collections. I assume they are caught at flowers. Indeed these and related Graphium species are strong fliers, and look more like a 'blur' in flight and at flowers. Of course I have never seen this species myself, but base my comments on other related species such as G. agamemnon. It would be interesting to hear Chuck's experience of these.

Adam.

Interesting to know this little "honey" is something
rather un-commonly occurring in collections. Nice...

Indeed, I do wonder if Chuck saw or caught any of these
magnificent three....

I thought it would be interesting to post a photo of the three species together for comparison:



Left to right G. wallacei, G. browni & G. hicetaon, male above, female below.

Adam.

Hi guys,

Graphium hicetaon is surprisingly common and easy to capture. The species inhabits secondary growth (junk small trees, with limited sunlight and lots of underbrush). Certainly, it is capable of fast flight, but typically it flutters around a meter above ground from plant to plant looking for small flowers, or just, I perceive, cruising around. It pays little attention to the net, and often uses jungle trails to lope along.

Despite the coloration matching the environment, it's not hard to see, or follow, primarily because it flies so slowly and only short distances; it doesn't hide on the back side of trees.

It is seasonal, but only in that it's more common at some times than others; there are always some around. That said, while I have voucher specimens from many regions of Solomon Islands, I find that I have none from Tetepare Island. It must be on Tetepare Island, but it appears I didn't see any; Tetepare hasn't been logged in 80 years, so the secondary growth is limited, but certainly there is secondary growth. So I can't say why I didn't see any there.

The other Graphium in Solomon Islands are a completely different story, and a real bear to capture.

I had probably 50 specimens over the course of 11 trips to Solomon Islands, only because I wouldn't bother with the species unless it was convenient. It is probably that if targeted one could catch 50 in one day. I find the species to be fascinating and unique, but for the longest time I couldn't even give them away and it took years to dispose of my excess, and that by donation; I did offer them for sale on the archived forum, but had zero takers.