Chemical Identity of Cuticular Lipid Components in the Mimetic Swallowtail Butterfly <i>Papilio polytes</i>

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The swallowtail <jats:italic>Papilio polytes</jats:italic> shows Batesian and female‐limited polymorphic mimicry. In Japan, <jats:italic>P. polytes</jats:italic> females have two different forms: the <jats:italic>cyrus</jats:italic> form is non‐mimetic and resembles males, whereas the <jats:italic>polytes</jats:italic> form mimics <jats:italic>Pachliopta aristolochiae</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Byasa</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Atrophaneura</jats:italic>) <jats:italic>alcinous</jats:italic> as unpalatable models. During mating, <jats:italic>P. polytes</jats:italic> males use cuticular lipids to distinguish non‐mimetic females from conspecific males and sympatric sister species. In this study, we investigated whether compositional differences in cuticular lipids exist between mimetic and non‐mimetic females of <jats:italic>P. polytes</jats:italic> and between mimetic females and their model species. The mimetic and non‐mimetic females had nearly identical cuticular lipid profiles, which differed from those of males. The two model species exhibited sexually dimorphic and species‐specific cuticular lipid compositions, which were distinctly different from those of mimetic <jats:italic>P. polytes</jats:italic> females. These results strongly suggest that <jats:italic>P. polytes</jats:italic> females maintain the identity of cuticular lipid profiles regardless of the mimicry type, and this feature helps males recognize mimetic females as the correct mating partners.</jats:p>