Monkiageha (English spelling) Red Helen

A butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae in the order Lepidoptera of the class Insecta. It is rare in the southern Tohoku region (Fukushima Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture), but is common in warm areas south of the southwestern Kanto region (Kanagawa Prefecture), and its northern limit on the Japan Sea coast is Niigata Prefecture (including Sado Island). Outside of Japan, it is widely distributed in the tropical oriental regions, from Taiwan and southern China to India in the west and Timor Island in the east. Its wingspan is about 110 to 140 mm. It is a black, large, tailed swallowtail with a large white marking on its hind wings (which becomes yellowish-white after some time has passed since it emerged), making it a very distinctive butterfly, and there are no butterflies in Japan that are similar to it. In Japan, it usually appears twice a year, with the first generation of spring types appearing in May and June and the second generation of summer types appearing in July and August, but it appears more frequently in the Nansei Islands. The larvae mainly feed on plants from the Rutaceae family, such as Phellodendron amplexicaule, Zanthoxylum ternatea, and Limonium arbutifolia, as well as various other citrus species and Trifoliate orange.

[Takashi Shiramizu]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

昆虫綱鱗翅(りんし)目アゲハチョウ科に属するチョウ。東北地方南部（福島県、茨城県）ではまれ、関東地方南西部（神奈川県）より以南の暖地に多く、日本海側では新潟県（佐渡島を含む）がほぼその分布の北限となる。国外では、台湾、中国南部から西はインド、東はチモール島にわたり東洋熱帯にその分布は広い。はねの開張は110～140ミリ程度。黒色、大形、有尾のアゲハで、後ろばねに大形の白色紋（羽化後日数を経過したものでは黄白色となる）があり、きわめて特徴のあるもので、日本にはこれに紛らわしいチョウは存在しない。日本では普通年2回の発生で、第一化の春型は5、6月に、第二化の夏型は7、8月に出現するが、南西諸島ではさらに発生回数を増す。幼虫のおもな食草はキハダ、カラスザンショウ、ハマセンダンなどのミカン科、各種のミカン類、カラタチなども食べる。

［白水　隆］

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