''Troides prattorum'', the Buru Opalescent Birdwing, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

in the

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 Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larges ...

. It is

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 ...

Buru Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon and Seram islands. The island belongs to Ma ...

in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It is commercially bred, but supplies of this butterfly are sporadic, so it is still very rare in collections.

Related species

''Troides prattorum'' is a member of the ''Troides aeacus''

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 ''Troides aeacus'', the golden birdwing, is a large tropical butterfly belonging to the swallowtail family, Papilionidae. Description ''Troides aeacus'' has a wingspan of about but can be as large as 194 mm. In the males the forewings are ...

'' C. & R. Felder, 1860 *''

Troides magellanus ''Troides magellanus'', the Magellan birdwing, is a large and striking birdwing butterfly found in the Philippines and on Taiwan's Orchid Island. This butterfly is named for the explorer Ferdinand Magellan who was killed in the Philippines in 15 ...

'' (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 Leas ...

'' (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 ''Troides rhadamantus'', the golden birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly that inhabits the Philippines. The species was first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1835. There are many subspecies on islands of the Philippines and some authors consider ' ...

'' (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 mm ...

'' (Rippon, 1893) *''Troides prattorum'' (Joicey & Talbot, 1922)

References

ARKive
Photos and more information *Ohya, Takashi,1980) ''Troides prattorum''. ''Rhopalocerists' Magazine'' 4(4):5-10, plate. *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

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 ...

(English/German)
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Buru Ecoregion
prattorum Butterflies of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Fauna of Buru Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Butterflies described in 1922 {{papilionidae-stub