About Papilio nireus Linnaeus, 1758
This species is Papilio nireus Linnaeus, 1758. Males have a wingspan of 75–90 millimetres (3.0–3.5 in), while females have a wingspan of 85–95 mm (3.3–3.7 in). On the upper surface of the forewing, there are at most two blue submarginal spots in cellules 7 and 8; females rarely have several yellow spots in this area. The median band is blue in males and greenish in females. It measures 2–7 mm broad at the hindmargin of the forewing and 4–12 mm broad in the middle of the hindwing, and is only slightly widened toward the posterior. The spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing does not completely cover the base of the cellule, and the narrow spot in cellule 1c does not reach the cell. The underside of the forewing almost always has no submarginal spots at all. For the nominate subspecies: the upper median band of the forewing is well developed, and the spots of cellules 2–4 are cut off obliquely at the distal end; the discal spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing is very long, extending farther toward the anal angle than the spot in cellule 1c. This subspecies ranges from Sierra Leone to Angola and Uganda. For the subspecies/forma lyaeus Dbl.: the median band is narrower but complete; the spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing is shorter and does not extend as far toward the anal angle as the spot in cellule 1c. The larva is green on the upper body and whitish on the underside, with a whitish oblique longitudinal streak on each side of segments 7 and 8, and a girdle of ring-shaped spots on the third segment. This form ranges from Cape Colony to Angola and British East Africa. For the male aberration aelyus Suff.: it differs from lyaeus only in that the discal spot in cellule 1a of the forewing is entirely absent, and the spot in cellule 1b is divided into two; this aberration occurs in German East Africa. For the form pseudonireus Fldr. (= donaldsoni Em. Sharpe): the median band is entirely absent from the forewing, or is only represented by a few very small spots; on the hindwing it matches the form seen in lyaeus. This form occurs in Somaliland and Abyssinia.
