''Teinopalpus aureus'', the golden Kaiser-i-Hind, is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful Butterfly, 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 includ ...

. It is found in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

, with several named subspecies The species is considered threatened by the wildlife trade hence is under Appendix II of

CITES CITES (shorter acronym 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 inte ...

as part of the listed genus ''

Teinopalpus ''Teinopalpus'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Papilionidae. Taxonomy The genus contains two species, both with multiple possible subspecies: * '' Teinopalpus aureus'' (Golden kaiser-i-hind) :* ''T. a. aureus'' :* ''T. a. eminens'' :* ...

''. It is also specifically protected in China as grade-1 under the Wildlife Protection Law of the

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

(First-class of National Key Protected Animals).

Distribution

Species distribution models show that mountain forests in mid to high elevations of Southern China, Laos, and Vietnam present suitable habitats for ''T. aureus''. However, many of these areas have poorly connected habitat networks and the extent of distribution is predicted to be declining as several portions are facing extensive deforestation and severe climate change effects.

Subspecies

* ''Teinopalpus aureus aureus'' Mell, 1923 * ''Teinopalpus aureus eminens'' Turlin, 1991 * ''Teinopalpus aureus guangxiensis'' Chou & Zhou, 1994 * ''Teinopalpus aureus hainanensis'' Lee, ? (per Bauer & Frankenbach, 1998) * ''Teinopalpus aureus laotiana'' Collard, 2007 * ''Teinopalpus aureus nagaoi'' Morita, 2003 * ''Teinopalpus aureus shinkaii'' Morita, 1998 * ''Teinopalpus aureus wuyiensis'' Lee, ? (per Bauer & Frankenbach, 1998)

References

External links

''Teinopalpus aureus eminens'', on Butterflies of Indochina
Images

Images
External image
* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1937030 Teinopalpus Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Indochina Lepidoptera of Nepal Endangered fauna of Asia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Butterflies described in 1923 Taxa named by Rudolf Mell

Distribution

Subspecies

References

Further reading

External links