''Troides plateni'', the Dr. Platen'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 to

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

Balabac Balabac Island is the southernmost island of the Palawan province, and therefore the westernmost undisputed island in the Philippines, only about north from Sabah, Malaysia, across the Balabac Strait. Administratively, the island forms the main ...

Dumaran Dumaran, officially the Municipality of Dumaran ( tgl, Bayan ng Dumaran), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 23,528 people. The municipality covers the sout ...

, and the

Calamian Islands The Calamian Islands or the Calamianes is a group of islands in the province of Palawan, Philippines. It includes: * Busuanga Island * Coron Island * Culion Island * Calauit Island * Malcapuya Island * Banana Island * Pass Island * Calumbuyan Isl ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is named for Dr. Carl Constantin Platen.

Habitat and conservation

''Troides plateni'' is found mainly in wooded habitats. The larval food plant is '' Aristolochia tagala'' (Aristolochiaceae). It is protected by the

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species 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).

Taxonomic position

The taxonomic relationship between '' T. rhadamantus rhadamantus'', '' T. rhadamantus plateni'' and '' T. dohertyi'' is uncertain. Haugum & Low (1985) rank ''plateni'' and ''dohertyi'' as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''T. rhadamantus'' (Tsukada & Nishiyama, 1980, 1982). Ohya (1983) rank ''plateni'' as 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 ...

References

*Ohya, T. 1983. ''Birdwing Butterflies''. Kodansha, Tokyo. *Tsukada, E. & Nishiyama, Y. 1982. Papilionidae. In: Tsukada, E. (ed): ''Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands''. Volume 1. Plapac Co., Tokyo *Jumalon, Julian N., 1970 Life history notes on ''Troides plateni'' of Palawan, Philippines. ''Philippine Scientist'' 7:35-38

External links

''Troides plateni''
Butterflycorner Plateni Butterflies of Asia Lepidoptera of the Philippines Endemic fauna of the Philippines Fauna of Palawan Butterflies described in 1889 {{Papilionidae-stub