Papilio joanae (Heitzman, 1974)

Warsaw, Benton County, Missouri male recto Warsaw, Benton County, Missouri  male verso
Warsaw, Benton County, Missouri female recto Warsaw, Benton County, Missouri female verso

    This is an interesting taxon, felt by most to be a legitimate species, more closely related to P machaon (by DNA) than to the sympatric P polyxenes ( to which it also has been ascribed.) The nearest machaon relative would be P. m. bairdi (also felt by some to be a full species.) It is very local in the pine forests of the Ozark Mtns or N Arkansas and S Missouri, and rather rare in general. Some authors continue to place it as a ssp of P machaon, to emphasize their (probable) common ancestry.