On the status of Papilio sjoestedti Aurivillius, 1908, the "Kilimanjaro swallowtail" (Lepidoptera : Papilionidae)

The status of four nominal taxa of Afrotropical Papilionidae, Papilio fulleborni Karsch, 1900, Papilio fulleborni rydoni Kielland, 1987, Papilio sjostedti Aurivillius, 1908, and Papilio sjostedti var. atavus Le Cerf, 1912, is discussed. Formal taxonomic information is given in an appendix. Basedon evidence from the male and female wing patterns and male genitalia, and from their geographical distributions, it is concluded that they are best considered to represent the two species originally established. Thus Papilio sjoestedti is bitypic, including the nominotypical subspecies and P. s. atavus. Papilio fuelleborni is more problematic; the two nominal taxa may represent polymorphic forms of the same taxon, but in the absence of conclusive evidence, we maintain the status quo and treat them as subspecies: P. f. fuelleborni and P. f. rydoni. Princeps fuelleborni neocesa Kemal and Kocak, 2005, is formally synonymized with Papilio sjoestedti atavus Le Cerf as an unnecessary replacement name. The validity of the spelling Papilio sjoestedti is discussed and affirmed.