Baronia
Baronia brevicornis, commonly known as the short-horned baronia, is a species of butterfly in the monotypic genus Baronia and is placed in a subfamily of its own, the Baroniinae, a sister group of the remainder of the swallowtail butterflies. It is endemic to a very small area of Mexico, where the distribution is patchy and restricted.
| Baronia | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Subfamily: | Baroniinae Bryk, 1913 |
| Genus: | Baronia Salvin, 1893 |
| Species: | B. brevicornis |
| Binomial name | |
| Baronia brevicornis Salvin, 1893 | |
The genus is named after Oscar Theodor Baron who collected the first specimen in the Sierra Madre region of Mexico. The species was then described by Salvin.
Morphological characteristics include an abdominal scent organ in females.
Baronia is unique among swallowtail butterflies or their relatives in having an Acacia species, Vachellia campeachiana (synonym Acacia cochliacantha, family Leguminosae) as its larval food plant.