''Troides hypolitus'', the Rippon'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 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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

and

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

. It is not significantly threatened, but it is protected. ''Troides hypolitus'' is a butterfly from the

Australasian Australasian is the adjectival form of Australasia, a geographical region including Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continen ...

and

Indomalayan realm The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Indi ...

s. The first description was in 1775 by

Pieter Cramer Pieter Cramer (21 May 1721 (baptized) – 28 September 1776), was a wealthy Dutch merchant in linen and Spanish wool, remembered as an entomologist. Cramer was the director of the Zealand Society, a scientific society located in Flushing, and a mem ...

. This butterfly is a member of the family Papilionidae. ''Troides hypolitus'' is black. It has a chain of golden spots on the hindwings. The females are dark brown and they are bigger than the males.

Description

The

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 ...

is from 180 to 200 mm. The male's forewings are black. Some veins are bordered by white colour. The underside is very similar to the upperside. The hindwings are grey. The outer edge is black and it contains a chain of golden spots. The veins are black. The underside is similar to the upperside, but the basic colour is white. The body (abdomen) is black and yellow, but the underside is white and yellowish. It looks like a wasp. Head and thorax are black. The nape has a red hair-coat. The sexes are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. The female covers the upper range of the wingspan and is usually larger than the male. The basic colour of the female is dark brown. Many veins are bordered by white. The golden spots are bigger and they contain a black core. The underside is a very similar to the upperside. OrnithopteraHippolytusRippon

Distribution

''Troides hypolitus'' is found in the

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

and

s. The distribution is restricted on the Molucca Islands and Sulawesi.

Subspecies

240px, from Sungai Pontolo, North Gorontalo There are four subspecies: * ''Troides hypolitus hypolitus'' (

) * ''Troides hypolitus antiope'' Rothschild, 1908 (

Morotai Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...

) * ''Troides hypolitus cellularis'' Rothschild, 1895 (

, Talaud) * ''Troides hypolitus sulaensis'' (Staudinger, 1895) (

Sula Islands The Sula Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Sula) is one of the regencies in North Maluku province of Indonesia. It covers a land area of 3,338.67 km2 and consists of two of the three large islands comprising the Sula Archipelago, together ...

)

Conservation

This butterfly is strictly protected. It is listed in the appendix II from

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 ...

Etymology

In Greek mythology Hippolytus was the son of

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...

References

*D'Abrera, B. (1975) ''Birdwing Butterflies of the World''. Country Life Books, London. * *Haugum, Jan; & Low, A. M. (1975): Notes on the status of ''Troides hypolitus'' (Cramer) 1775 (Lep.: Papilionidae: Troidini) with a description of a new genus, notes on the status of ''T. hypolitus cellularis'' Rothschild 1895, and the apparent dimorphism in the male sex of ''T. hypolitus sulae'' ''

The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation ''The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed entomological journal. Its emphasis is British and European Lepidoptera, but material on other insect orders is also published regularly. It was established by ...

'' 87, pp. 111–119, illustration. *Haugum, J. & Low, A.M. 1978-1985. ''A Monograph of the Birdwing Butterflies''. 2 volumes. Scandinavian Press, Klampenborg; 663 pp. * CITES: (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora): **Appendix II- (as at 12.02.2008) * EU regulation on trading with species of wild Fauna and Flora: **Appendix B- (as at 19.08.2005) * IUCN Red List of threatened species: **no entry- (as at 2008)

External links

Butterflycorner.net
Images from

Naturhistorisches Museum Wien The Natural History Museum Vienna (german: Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most important natural history museums worldwide. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museum ...

Troides hypolitus at Ngypal
as Ripponia hypolitus (synonym)

Images of both sexes, uppersides and undersides.
Indonesia: Island of Sulawesi Ecoregion
Troides Papilionidae Butterflies of Indonesia Butterflies described in 1775 {{Papilionidae-stub