Species Diversity and Structure of Wing Scales of Euploea and Papilio Butterflies from Phromlaeng, Nam Nao National Park, Phetchabun Province

Abstract

This study focuses on species diversity of butterflies in the genera Euploea and Papilio in Nam Nao National Park. The butterflies were investigated every month for one year using insect nets. A total of 11 species, belonging to 2 genera and 2 families, were found. These were E. algea, E. camaralzeman, E. core, E. midamus, E. mulciber, E. radamanthus, E. sylvester, P. helenus, P. memnon, P. nephelus, and P. paris. The structure of the wing scales in different colour areas of 9 species was studied using a stereo microscope and a scanning electron microscope. The general structure of the wing scales of the butterflies of genus Euploea, independent of the colour it produces, is of longitudinal ridges, composed of tilted scutes, cross ribs that connect the ridges, and trabeculae, which link the cross ribs to the membrane of the wing scale’s upper lamina. In the Papilio species, there are 2 types of wing scales: one that exhibits blue-green iridescence and has wide-spaced ridges with concavities in between; and one displaying white, black, yellow, and red and has smaller widths between the ridges, with the space in between them containing a reticular pattern of cross ribs. The study of the wing scale microstructure of the butterflies in the Euploea and Papilio genera indicates that the patterns of the wing scale structure are genus-specific and that, despite showing similar colours, the wing scales are equipped with different mechanisms exemplifying diversity in structural coloration in nature.