''Parthenos tigrina'' is a species of butterfly in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

. It was discovered by

Samuel Constant Snellen van Vollenhoven Samuel Constant Snellen van Vollenhoven (18 October 1816, Rotterdam – 22 March 1880) was a Dutch entomologist. He is not to be confused with Pieter Cornelius Tobias Snellen another entomologist from Rotterdam. He was curator of the entomologic ...

in 1866. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and surrounding islands. Seitz9FaunaIndoAustralicaPlate120a

Description

The forewings of ''P. t. tigrina'' display white spots with a yellowish tint and a rich brownish-yellow coloration at the wing bases. The underside is yellowish-green with distinct black submarginal bands. Originally described from

Salawati Salawati () is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua (formerly West Papua), Indonesia. Its area is 1,902.1 km2 (including smaller offshore islands). Salawati is separated from New Guinea to the southea ...

, this form closely matches specimens from Aetna and Kajumera Bay in modern day

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Specimens collected in Geelvink Bay further support its distribution. Several closely related forms exist within this species group. ''P. s. nodrica'', identified in Dorey, exhibits a darkened form with smaller intramedian spots on the

forewing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwi ...

s. ''P. t. terentianus'' is distinguished in males by forewings entirely covered in black scales, found in the

Arfak Mountains The Arfak Mountains () is a mountain range found on the Bird's Head Peninsula in the Province of West Papua, Indonesia. The term "arfak" came from ''arfk'' the language of the coastal Biak people, meaning "people who sleep over fire", to refer ...

. The

larvae A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect developmental biology, development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typical ...

of ''P. tigrina'' are known to live in large communal groups. They are differentiated from ''P. sylvia guineensis'' by their darker dorsal line. The larvae are highly variable in coloration, ranging from lighter to darker forms, all covered in white bristles and feeding on climbing plants. The

pupae A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

are green, boat-shaped, and feature two head points. Another related form, ''P. t. pardalis'', differs from ''P. t. tigrina'' by having a broader black outer margin on all wings and smaller, white hyaline spots on the forewings. Additional distinguishing features include a reduction in the number of white costal and subapical spots and broader black markings along the anal angle of the forewings. The underside of ''P. t. pardalis'' is notably melanistic, with extensive black submarginal bands and a heavily bordered outer margin, characteristics not mentioned in ''P. t. tigrina's'' original description. ''P. t. pardalis'' has been recorded on

Waigeo Island Waigeo is an Islands of Indonesia, island in Southwest Papua, the Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, bet ...

Subspecies

Five subspecies are recognized: * ''Parthenos tigrina terentianus'' ( Fruhstorfer, 1912) * ''Parthenos tigrina cynailurus'' ( Fruhstorfer, 1915) * ''Parthenos tigrina tigrina'' * ''Parthenos tigrina pardalis'' ( Fruhstorfer, 1904) - Waigeu * ''Parthenos tigrina mysolica'' (

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

, 1915) -

Misool Misool, formerly spelled Mysol (Dutch: Misoöl) or Misol, is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. Its area is 2,034 km2. The highest point is 561 m and the main towns are Waigama, located on ...

References

{{Limenitidinae-stub Limenitidinae Butterflies described in 1866