''Trogonoptera brookiana'', Rajah Brooke's birdwing, is a

birdwing Birdwings are butterflies in the swallowtail family, that belong to the genera ''Trogonoptera'', ''Troides'', and ''Ornithoptera''. Most recent authorities recognise 36 species, however, this is debated, and some authorities include additional ...

butterfly from the rainforests of the

Thai-Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

Natuna ''(Sacred Ocean, Fortune Land) , image_map = , pushpin_map = Indonesia Riau Islands#Indonesia Sumatra#Indonesia#South China Sea , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Riau Islands##Location in Sumatra##Location in I ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, and various small islands west of Sumatra ( Banyak,

Simeulue Simeulue is an island of Indonesia, off the west coast of Sumatra. It covers an area of 1754 square kilometres (677 square miles), including minor offshore islands. It had a population of 80,674 at the 2010 census and 92,865 at the 2020 census ...

, Batu and Mentawai).ARKiv
Rajah Brooke’s birdwing.
Accessed 20 May 2012 The butterfly was named by the naturalist

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural se ...

in 1855, after

James Brooke Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was bor ...

, the

Rajah of Sarawak The White Rajahs were a dynastic monarchy of the British Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak, located on the north west coast of the island of Borneo, from 1841 to 1946. The first ruler was Briton James Brooke. As a reward f ...

. The larval host plants are '' Aristolochia acuminata'' and '' A. foveolata''. Adults sip flower nectar from plants such as ''

Bauhinia ''Bauhinia'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Cercidoideae and tribe Bauhinieae, in the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers Gaspard and Jo ...

''. Rajah Brooke's birdwing is a protected species, listed under

Appendix II CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

, meaning that international export is restricted to those who have been granted a permit. It is the national butterfly of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

.Butterflies of Malaysia
Accessed 20 May 2012

Description

Both sexes resemble the more restricted relative, the Palawan birdwing, but males of Rajah Brooke's birdwing have more green to the hindwings. The wingspan of Rajah Brooke's birdwing is .Butterfly Corner
Trogonoptera brookiana (Raja Brooke's Birdwing).
Accessed 20 May 2012 The wings of males are mainly black. Each forewing has seven tooth-shaped electric-green markings, while there is a relatively large electric-green patch on the hindwings. The head is bright red and the body is black with red markings. The wings of females are browner with prominent white flashes at the tips of the forewings and at the base of the hindwings.

Taxonomy

Genus: '' Trogonoptera'' Rippon, 1890 :Species: ''Trogonoptera brookiana''

Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...

, 1855 ::Subspecies: ''Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana'' (Wallace, 1855) :::Form: ''Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana'' f. ''brookiana'' Wallace, 1855 :::Form: ''Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana'' f. ''julijae'' S.Hu, 2007 ::Subspecies: ''Trogonoptera brookiana toshikii'' Kobayashi, 1991 ::Subspecies: ''Trogonoptera brookiana akikoa'' Morita, 1994 :Species: ''Trogonoptera trojana'' Honrath, 1886

Illustrations

Trogonoptera-brookiana--2-male--Malaysia-2008

File:TrogonopteraBrookeanaRippon.jpg, Males from ''Icones Ornithopterorum'' volume 2 File:Illustrations of new species of exotic butterflies Ornithoptera & Papilio.jpg, Male (bottom)

Description

Taxonomy

Illustrations

References

Further reading