''Troides aeacus'', the golden birdwing, is a large tropical

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

belonging to the swallowtail

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, Papilionidae.

Description

''Troides aeacus'' has a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

of about but can be as large as 194 mm. In the males the forewings are black, with veins bordered by whitish colour, while the hindwings are bright yellow. The underside of the wings is quite similar to the upside. The females are larger than the males and have dark-brown or black wings. Head, thorax and abdomen of this butterfly are mainly black, with small red patches on the thorax and a yellow underside of the abdomen. Caterpillars are pale brown, with long protrusions resembling thorns. They mainly feed on ''

Aristolochia ''Aristolochia'' () is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the type genus of the family Aristolochiaceae. Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse clima ...

'' and ''

Thottea ''Thottea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the pipevine family, Aristolochiaceae. Accepted species ''Plants of the World Online'' currently includes: # '' Thottea abrahamii'' Dan, P.J.Mathew, Unnithan & Pushp. # '' Thottea adichilthottiana' ...

'' species (''

Aristolochiaceae The Aristolochiaceae () are a family, the birthwort family, of flowering plants with seven genera and about 400 known species belonging to the order Piperales. The type genus is ''Aristolochia'' L. Description They are mostly perennial, herb ...

''). ''Troides aeacus'' closely resembles ''

Troides helena ''Troides helena'', the common birdwing, is a butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. It is often found in the wildlife trade due to its popularity with butterfly collectors. The butterfly has seventeen subspecies. Description The ...

cerebrus'' and differs as follows:
Upperside, ''forewing'': the pale adnervular streaks more prominent, in some specimens extended into the cell along the outer half of the subcostal and of the median nervules.
''Hindwing'': the cone-shaped terminal black markings in interspaces 2, 3, and 4 more or less broadly bordered on the inner side by a dusky area that is irrorated with blackish scales; the black on the costal margin narrower, not extended below vein 8. PompeopteraAeacusRippon

Underside similar to the upperside, but the dusky black borders to the cone-shaped marks in interspaces 2, 3, and 4 wanting. Antennae, head, thorax, abdomen and abdominal fold as in ''Troides helena cerebrus'', but the abdomen beneath with two rows of black spots. In the female the differences from ''cerebrus'' are:
''Forewing'': the pale adnervular streaks very broad, very prominent and extended well into the cell.
''Hindwing'': the basal third of the cell and of interspace 2 black, the middle portion of the latter yellow anteriorly, buffy-white posteriorly; the posterior half of the discal area between the postdiscal spots themselves and between them and the terminal cone-shaped markings more or less irrorated with blackish scales; lastly, the black in interspace 7 interrupted by an inner triangular and an outer small yellow spot. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in ''cerebrus'', but the abdomen beneath with two lateral and two median rows of black spots.

Range and status

It is found in northern India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, peninsular Malaysia, and Taiwan. Although it is classified as a species of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, it may require protection in peninsular Malaya.

Gallery

File:Taecus.jpg, Female File:Taecus1.jpg, Male File:Butterfly Male Golden Birdwing.jpg,

Subspecies

* ''Troides aeacus formosanus'' Rothschild, 1899 * ''Troides aeacus insularis'' Ney, 1905 * ''Troides aeacus malaiianus'' Fruhstorfer, 1902 * ''Troides aeacus szechwanus'' Okano & Okano, 1983

Related species

''Troides aecus'' is the nominate member of the ''Troides aecus''

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. The members of this

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

are *''Troides aeacus'' C. & R. Felder, 1860 *'' Troides magellanus'' (C. & R. Felder, 1862) *''

Troides minos ''Troides minos'', the southern birdwing, also called Sahyadri birdwing, is a large and striking swallowtail butterfly endemic to south India. With a wingspan of 140–190 mm, it is the second largest butterfly of India. It is listed as Lea ...

'' (Cramer,

779 __NOTOC__ Year 779 ( DCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 779 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Eur ...

*'' Troides rhadamantus'' (Lucas, 1835) *''

Troides dohertyi ''Troides dohertyi'', the Talaud black birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly endemic to the Talaud and Sangihe islands. This species is ranked as a subspecies of '' Troides rhadamantus'' by some authors. Description Size range: 140 to 160 ...

'' (Rippon, 1893) *''

Troides prattorum ''Troides prattorum'', the Buru Opalescent Birdwing, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is endemic to Buru in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It is commercially bred, but supplies of this butterfly are sporadic, so it is ...

'' (Joicey & Talbot, 1922)

Cited references

References

* * * * *Kurt Rumbucher; Béla von Knötgen (1999). Part.6, Papilionidae. 3, Troides. 1 ''aeacus''- group in Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Eds. ''Butterflies of the World'' Keltern: Goecke & Evers 1999. *

External links

Butterflycorner

Biolib

{{Taxonbar, from=Q702952

Aeacus Aeacus (; also spelled Eacus; Ancient Greek: Αἰακός) was a mythological king of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf. He was a son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina, and the father of the heroes Peleus and Telamon. According to legend, ...

Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Indochina Endemic fauna of Indonesia Butterflies described in 1860