Insect (epi)cuticular lipids characterize sex and species and often play an important role in mating behavior. We previously revealed that two black-colored swallowtail butterflies, Papilio polytes and Papilio protenor, show sexual dimorphism and species specificity in cuticular lipid composition and that P. polytes males use specific monoene components for mate discrimination. These findings suggest that their closely related species may have different profiles of cuticular lipids. We examined the cuticular lipid compositions of five Papilio species (P. bianor, P. maackii, P. helenus, P. macilentus, and P. memnon), closely related and sympatric to P. polytes and P. protenor, and discussed whether it is possible to discriminate between sexes, and between species based on their chemical profiles. The cuticular lipids consist mainly of C23–C31 aliphatic hydrocarbons, in which n-tricosane, n-heptacosane, and n-nonacosane are predominant. Several aliphatic ketones, aliphatic acids, and oxygenated terpenoids were also identified as major components shared by several species. There were no components exclusive to a particular species. Conspecific males and females shared most of the components but were mostly distinguishable based on their composition. Moreover, P. helenus males, P. polytes females, and P. protenor females had two different phenotypes of lipid composition. Although unrelated to the genetic lineage, the seven species were classified into four clusters based on their lipid profiles. The first cluster was composed of only P. memnon. The other six species were broadly classified into three clusters consisting of subclusters for each species: 1) P. polytes, P. helenus, P. macilentus, and several P. protenor females; 2) P. bianor and P. protenor; and 3) P. maackii and several P. helenus males. These results indicate that cuticular lipid profiles characterize the species and sex of the Papilio species and may be responsible for mate discrimination among them.

昆虫（表皮）脂质表征性别和物种，通常在交配行为中起重要作用。我们先前曾发现两只黑色的燕尾蝶，凤蝶凤蝶和凤蝶角ten，在表皮脂质成分和P上显示出性二态性和物种特异性。Polytes雄性使用特定的单烯组分进行配偶鉴别。这些发现表明，它们密切相关的物种可能具有不同的表皮脂质分布。我们研究的五个表皮脂质组成凤蝶物种（P。bianor，P。忍冬，P。helenus，P。macilentus，和P。memnon），与P密切相关并同伴。polytes和P。protenor，并讨论是否有可能区分两性之间，并根据其化学特性的物种之间。表皮脂质主要由C23–C31脂肪烃组成，其中正三烷，正庚烷和正丁烷-壬二烷占主导地位。几种脂族酮，脂族酸和氧化萜烯类化合物也被确定为几种物种共有的主要成分。没有特定物种专有的组件。同种的雄性和雌性共有大部分成分，但根据它们的组成大多是可区分的。此外，P。Helenus雄性，P。polytes女性，和P。雌性原代雌性具有两种不同的脂质组成表型。尽管与遗传谱系无关，但根据它们的脂质概况，将这七个物种分为四个簇。第一个簇仅由P组成。门农。其他六个物种大致分为三个簇，每个簇由亚簇组成：1）P。polytes，P。helenus，P。macilentus，和几个P。protenor女性; 2）P。bianor和P。处理器; 和3）P。金银忍冬和几个P。Helens男性。这些结果表明，表皮脂质谱是凤蝶的种类和性别的特征。 物种，可能是其中的配偶歧视的原因。