Relationship analysis among wing and body parts in Lepidoptera may reveal a connection between structure and function. This study investigates relationships between swallowtail body size and its parts to understand how shape and size are determined, and how they are related to adaptation to biotic and abiotic environments. Females are heavier than males (up to 1,75g). In different habitats, thorax and abdomen in females are larger in 100% of the 11 analyzed species, total mass 92%, and wings mass 75%. Species whose females had greater mass also showed greater movement and dispersion in their home range. In habitats more disturbed by man or with a lower canopy, the increase in thorax size is significantly larger than that of wings, for both, males as females. In males, the abdomen increase is not significantly larger than that of the wings, in all places investigated. However, in females the abdomen increase is significant in all areas. Cluster analysis shows two large groups characterized by species with similar sizes and proportions. One inhabits environments with high humidity, and the other (more heterogeneous) occupies habitats appreciably altered by human action. The first shows two subdivisions distinguished by the display type those males present to the females.
Allometry; body size; butterfly; flight behavior; swallowtail butterflies
