Papilio polyxenes
Fabricius, 1775 · speciesAt a glance
Sources7 archives
Databases and archives Papilio polyxenes's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation4 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility76 090 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI124 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics116 specimens↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Papilio polyxenes, the (eastern) black swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of Oklahoma and New Jersey. An extremely similar-appearing species, Papilio joanae, occurs in the Ozark Mountains region, but it appears to be closely related to Papilio machaon, rather than P. polyxenes. The species is named after the figure in Greek mythology, Polyxena (pron.: /pəˈlɪksɨnə/; Greek: Πολυξένη), who was the youngest daughter of King Priam of Troy. Its caterpillar is called the parsley worm because the caterpillar feeds on parsley. The Papilio polyxenes demonstrates polyandry and a lek mating system, showing no male parental care and display sites. Females are therefore able to choose males based on these sites and males are the only resource the females find at these sites.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
No structured trait data for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Papilio polyxenes has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Papilio polyxenes carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 301×GoaT · de Vos et al. 2020
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type76 090 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions31 of 64 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| New Haven, US | 1 001 |
| Cleveland Museum of Natural History, OH (CLEV)location not on record | 144 |
| Toronto, CA | 140 |
| Washington, US | 127 |
| Cambridge, US | 103 |
| Georgia Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 72 |
| White River Junction, US | 62 |
| East Lansing, US | 54 |
| Denver, US | 48 |
| Natural History Museum of Utahlocation not on record | 25 |
| CUlocation not on record | 23 |
| King Saud Universitylocation not on record | 22 |
| Caja de Compensación Familiar - Comfenalco Antioquialocation not on record | 20 |
| Saint John, CA | 19 |
| München, DE | 19 |
| National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record | 18 |
| US | 15 |
| Philadelphia, US | 15 |
| Sanda, JP | 13 |
| Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record | 11 |
| Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record | 10 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 10 |
| St. Paul, US | 9 |
| Colorado State Universitylocation not on record | 9 |
| Chicago, US | 8 |
| Decorah, US | 8 |
| CNClocation not on record | 7 |
| University Park, US | 6 |
| Universidad del Quindío (UniQuindío)location not on record | 6 |
| University of Alberta Museums (UAM)location not on record | 5 |
| Chicago, US | 5 |
| University of Central Floridalocation not on record | 4 |
| University of Guelphlocation not on record | 4 |
| Auckland, NZ | 4 |
| Universidad de Pamplona (UPamplona)location not on record | 3 |
| Vancouver, CA | 3 |
| SOVTlocation not on record | 3 |
| Hartland Nature Clublocation not on record | 3 |
| Blacksburg, US | 3 |
| Tapachula, MX | 3 |
| San Francisco, US | 2 |
| UDlocation not on record | 2 |
| Brussels, BE | 2 |
| Universidad del Valle (UniValle)location not on record | 2 |
| Tartu, EE | 2 |
| Provincia di Pesaro e Urbinolocation not on record | 2 |
| Awka, NG | 2 |
| Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 2 |
| Lexington, US | 2 |
| WIlocation not on record | 1 |
| San Diego, US | 1 |
| 1 | |
| Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record | 1 |
| Denver, US | 1 |
| Universidad Católica de Manizaleslocation not on record | 1 |
| WWUlocation not on record | 1 |
| MZLUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Cornell University Insect Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| Mississippi State, US | 1 |
| Centre for Biodiversity Genomicslocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Pennsylvanialocation not on record | 1 |
| RBINS-Scientific Heritagelocation not on record | 1 |
| OSUClocation not on record | 1 |
| Champaign, US | 1 |
Where the DNA of Papilio polyxenes was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.