Papaya (Carica papaya)

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Identidad taxonómica

Scientific name: Carica papaya L.
Canonical name: The scientific name without its authorship or date, for example Zea mays instead of Zea mays L.: Carica papaya
Authorship: The author or authors credited with publishing the scientific name. It is written after the name, sometimes with the year, for example L. (Linnaeus) in Zea mays L. An author in parentheses first published the name in another genus or rank.: L.
Common names: Papaya, Papaw, Pape, Pawpaw, paw-paw
Names in other languages (83)
Adibati, Aɖiba, Bobai, Bofere, Fruta bomba, Gedang, Kates, Lechosa, Lesi, Mamoeiro, Mamão-formosa, Mamão-havaí, Mamão-papaia, Melon tree, Melonenbaum, Melontræ, Mpwapwaia, Mpwapwayi, Mīkana, Papaieira, Papajabaum, Papajapflanze, Papaya de Monte, Papaya de Pájaro, Papayabaum, Papayer, Papayer commun, Papaye, Papayer commun, Papayer, Papayo, Pepaya, Sampelo, Yebaga, abobaia, almindelig papaja, amabapaia, chamburi, chamburu, epapali, formoso, harilik papaia, havaiano, mamon, mamão, mamão-de-corda, mamão-fêmea, mamão-macho, mamão-melão, mamón, melonowiec właściwy, papaia, papaier, papaja, papaja właściwa, papayero, papája melounová, papája melónová, salitung, tarhapapaija, utzum, vi ènana, vi papai, vi, vi papai, kikiè, vpēttē-rakko, Παπάγια, Дыннае дрэва, Папайя, Պապայա, פפאיה, باباز, باباظ, ببايا, पपई, পেঁপে, బొప్పాయి, പപ്പായ/ഓമയ്ക്ക/കപ്ലങ്ങ, ගස්ලබු, පැපොල්, มะละกอ, ’ï’ïta, pagaoa, パパイア, パパイヤ, 木瓜, 番木瓜, 파파야
Kingdom: One of the broadest ranks of biological classification. It groups organisms that share very basic features, for example plants (Plantae), animals (Animalia) or fungi (Fungi).: Plantae
Phylum: Rank below kingdom that groups organisms with a shared general body plan, for example chordates (Chordata), arthropods (Arthropoda) or vascular plants (Tracheophyta). In botany the same rank is also called division.: Tracheophyta
Class: Rank below phylum, for example mammals (Mammalia), birds (Aves), insects (Insecta) or monocot plants such as grasses and orchids (Liliopsida).: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rank below class that groups related families, for example grasses and their relatives (Poales) or bats (Chiroptera).: Brassicales
Family: Rank below order that groups related genera. Family names usually end in -aceae in botany (for example Poaceae, the grass family) and in -idae in zoology (for example Felidae, the cat family).: Caricaceae
Genus: Rank that groups closely related species. Its name is the first word of a species' scientific name and starts with a capital letter, for example Zea in Zea mays.: Carica
Specific epithet: The second word of a species' scientific name. On its own it does not name the species: it always goes with the genus, for example mays in Zea mays.: papaya
Taxonomic rank: The level a name occupies in the hierarchy of biological classification, such as kingdom, family, genus, species or subspecies.: species
Reference species: Carica papaya
Taxonomic status: Whether the taxonomic catalogue the record comes from currently accepts this name for the organism, or treats it as a synonym of another accepted name or as doubtful.: accepted name

Photos and conservation status

IUCN Red List category: The extinction-risk category that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assigns to a species on its Red List. EX Extinct: there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died. EW Extinct in the wild: it survives only in cultivation, in captivity or as a population far outside its past range. CR Critically endangered, EN Endangered and VU Vulnerable: the three threatened categories, from an extremely high to a high risk of extinction in the wild. NT Near threatened: close to qualifying as threatened. LC Least concern: evaluated and not threatened. DD Data deficient: there is not enough information to assess its risk. NE Not evaluated: not yet assessed against the criteria. It describes the risk of the species worldwide, not its situation in a project's area.: Data deficient (DD)
Source: IUCN Red List via GBIF, queried on 2026-10-09 06:56.

Photo of Carica papaya L. — Photo: Steven Smethurst · CC0 1.0 · View original image · Original observation

Research-grade iNaturalist observations via GBIF, CC0 or CC BY licences only, queried on 2026-10-09 06:56.

Interacciones documentadas

GloBI says it is documented somewhere in the world. Biolitica answers whether it could happen here.

A documented interaction means it was recorded somewhere in the world. It does not mean it occurs here.

Types shown: 1 of 16 has its flowers visited by × 15 more types with data for this species

Flower visit

has its flowers visited by 29 organisms

The authority declares no effect on this species for this term: neither that it harms it nor that it benefits it. Visiting a flower is not pollinating it. «Pollinates» is a different term and a different block, and merging the two is the measured defect that turned ~88 shared «pollinators» into birds and primates.

Organism	Reads as	Studies	Where it was documented
Mexican Zebra Longwing Heliconius charithonia vazquezae Nymphalidae	has its flowers visited by	6	not compared
6 sources · 6 records https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2359861 Published in globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist Context: no place published · Nov. 6, 2015 · Human observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2366598 Published in globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist Context: no place published · Nov. 9, 2015 · Human observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2860835 Published in globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist Context: no place published · March 29, 2016 · Human observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2921332 Published in globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist Context: no place published · April 11, 2016 · Human observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4073240 Published in globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist Context: no place published · Sept. 8, 2016 · Human observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4098546 Published in globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist Context: no place published · Sept. 11, 2016 · Human observation A published relationship says these two taxa were documented interacting. It does not say how often, or that it happens in this project's region.
European Honey Bee Apis mellifera Apidae	has its flowers visited by	3	not compared
3 sources · 5 records Cyrille, N., Lelièvre, Y., Dumbardon-Martial, E. et al. Wild insect flower visitor assemblages and resource use in tropical gardens: driven by floral offer, modulated by honeybees. Biodivers Conserv 35, 213 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-026-03395-9. Accessed at <https:/… Published in globalbioticinteractions/cyrille2026 Record contexts (sample): Martinique · 0023-03-09T00:00:00Z; Martinique · 0022-06-10T00:00:00Z African Pollinators Initiative. (2007). Crops, browse and pollinators in Africa: an initial stock-taking. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Published in globalbioticinteractions/kalro2023 Context: Kenya, kerio valley · no date published Records of organisms other than plants having flower visitors are probably errors Published in globalbioticinteractions/refuted-biotic-interactions-by-eol Context: no place published · no date published A published relationship says these two taxa were documented interacting. It does not say how often, or that it happens in this project's region.
Heliconius erato cruentus Nymphalidae	has its flowers visited by	3	not compared
3 sources · 4 records Records of organisms other than plants having flower visitors are probably errors Published in globalbioticinteractions/refuted-biotic-interactions-by-eol Record contexts (sample): no place published · no date published; no place published · no date published https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2410316 Published in globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist Context: no place published · Nov. 22, 2015 · Human observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2668956 Published in globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist Context: no place published · Feb. 10, 2016 · Human observation A published relationship says these two taxa were documented interacting. It does not say how often, or that it happens in this project's region.
Dyson's Silverpatch Aides dysoni Hesperiidae	has its flowers visited by	2	not compared
2 sources · 2 records https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2668978 Published in globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist Context: no place published · Feb. 10, 2016 · Human observation Records of organisms other than plants having flower visitors are probably errors Published in globalbioticinteractions/refuted-biotic-interactions-by-eol Context: no place published · no date published A published relationship says these two taxa were documented interacting. It does not say how often, or that it happens in this project's region.

Showing 4 of 29, by number of studies See more of this type

Interaction data from Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI), GloBI 0.11. Each row keeps the citation its own study published.

Interactions are published at species level: they are not resolved by variety or race.

Each block is headed by the source's own term, read from this species' end — not by a category of ours. Two similar terms are not merged.

«Documented here» means the interaction was observed in this territory. It is not evidence that the species is here, and it does not enter the niche model.

Acompañantes documentados

This agronomic reading comes from a source reserved for internal use, so it is not shown here.

Documented uses and recommendations

Uses and recommendations that a source documents for this species beside a crop, each in its own context. They are the source's statements, not traits of the species and not Biolítica's recommendations, and none of them is a relation between two species.

Not grouped under a navigation concept

What the source states	Claim type	Context	Source	Actions
Árbol nativo candidato de paisaje	Recommendation of a guideRecommended	coffee · Veracruz, México	Biolítica · compilación de café de CIE-10 sha256:e376ce4d636a
1 source · 1 record Flores-Ortiz et al. 2025 Context: coffee · Veracruz, México A guide's recommendation, in its own context. It is not a measurement and does not carry over to another crop or region.