''Troides criton'', the Criton birdwing, is a

birdwing Birdwings are butterflies in the Papilionidae, swallowtail family, that belong to the genera ''Trogonoptera'', ''Troides'', and ''Ornithoptera''. Most recent authorities recognise 36 species, however, this is debated, and some authorities inclu ...

butterfly found on the islands of Morotai,

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coa ...

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Bacan The Bacan Islands (; ), formerly also known as the Bachans, Bachians, and Batchians, are a group of islands in the Moluccas in Indonesia. They are mountainous and forested, lying south of Ternate and southwest of Halmahera. The islands are adm ...

Ternate Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...

and Obi in

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, ...

Description

''Troides criton'' is

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

. Male: The ground colour of the forewings is black. A large discal golden area has veins are black veins. The underside is very similar. Female: In the female some of the veins are bordered by white. There is a chain of internervular black spots in the golden area. The underside is very similar. In both sexes the abdomen is brown with a yellow underside. The head and thorax are black and the underside of thorax has red hair. Seitz, A., 1912-1927. Die Indo-Australien Tagfalter Grossschmetterlinge Erde 9 PompeopteraCritonRippon.jpg, PompeopteraCriton2Rippon.jpg, NovaraExpZoologischeTheilLepidopteraAtlasTaf4.jpg,

Subspecies

*''Troides criton criton''

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

, Morotai,

Tidore Tidore (, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island of Tidore (with three sm ...

Kasiruta The Bacan Islands (; ), formerly also known as the Bachans, Bachians, and Batchians, are a group of islands in the Moluccas in Indonesia. They are mountainous and forested, lying south of Ternate and southwest of Halmahera. The islands are admi ...

Sula Islands The Sula Islands are an archipelago of Indonesia. They consist of islands of the Taliabu Island Regency Taliabu Island Regency () is a regency in the North Maluku province of Indonesia, consisting primarily of the island of Taliabu, the most ...

*''Troides criton critonides'' (Fruhstorfer, 1903)

Obi Islands The Obi Islands (also known as Ombirah, Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Obi'') are a group of 42 islands in the Indonesian province of North Maluku, north of Buru and Ceram, and south of Halmahera. With a total area of 2,817.72 km2, they had a pop ...

Not constantly different from ''criton''.Male: forewing beneath often with white vein-stripes (in 4 of our 7 males (Fruhstorfers) the cell-spot of the hindwing mostly less obliquely truncate than in ''criton''. In the female the spot placed before the 1st radial of the hindwing always small, no yellow or cream-coloured discal spot before the subcostal; the black discal spots completely merged together, so that above only quite small yellow submarginal spots are present.

Related species

''Troides criton'' is a member of the ''Troides haliphron''

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 In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

are: *''

Troides haliphron ''Troides haliphron'', the haliphron birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly confined to Sulawesi and the lesser Sunda Islands. Description ''Troides haliphron'' is sexually dimorphic. Male: The forewings are ground colour black. The veins are bord ...

'' (Boisduval, 1836) *''

Troides darsius ''Troides darsius'', the Sri Lankan birdwing, is a species of birdwing butterfly found in Sri Lanka. It is the largest butterfly on the island and is also the national butterfly of Sri Lanka. Among the largest and most gaudy of the Ceylon Lepi ...

'' (Gray,

853 __NOTOC__ Year 853 ( DCCCLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * May 22 – A Byzantine fleet (85 ships and 5,000 men) sacks and destroys the port city of Damietta, lo ...

*'' Troides vandepolli'' (Snellen, 1890) *''Troides criton'' (C. & R. Felder, 1860) *''

Troides riedeli ''Troides riedeli'', or Riedel's birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly endemic to the Tanimbar Islands, part of the Maluku Islands archipelago in Indonesia. Description This apparently very constant species is one of the rarer forms. Body similar t ...

'' (Kirsch, 1885) *''

Troides plato ''Troides plato'', the silver birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly endemic to Timor. Described forms are ''nychonia'' Jordan, 1908 (male), ''chitonia'' Jordan, 1908 (male), and ''delormei'' Le Moult, 1931 (female). Taxonomy Previously considered t ...

'' (Wallace, 1865) *''

Troides staudingeri ''Troides staudingeri'' is a birdwing butterfly in the genus ''Troides'' in the family Papilionidae. It is known from Leti Island, Moa Island, Kisar Island, Babar Island and Wetar Island. Description ''staudingeri'' Rob. Male: forewing simil ...

'' (Röber, 1888)

References

*D'Abrera, B. (1975). ''Birdwing Butterflies of the World''. Country Life Books, London. * *Felder, C. & R. Felder (1865-1875). Rhopalocera. In ''Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte "Novara" um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen Commodore B. von Wullerstorf-Urbair''. Zoologischer Theil. Zweiter Band:Abtheilung. Wien: vi + 548 + pp in 5 parts, 140 pls. *Haugum, J. & Low, A.M. (1978-1985). ''A Monograph of the Birdwing Butterflies''. 2 volumes. Scandinavian Press, Klampenborg; 663 pp. *Kurt Rumbucher and Oliver Schäffler (2004). Part 19, Papilionidae X. Troides III. in Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Eds. ''Butterflies of the World''. Keltern: Goecke & Evers

External links

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Naturhistorisches Museum Wien The Natural History Museum Vienna () is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museums and non-university research institutions in Austria and an important center of excellence for all matt ...

(English/German)
NagypalHalmahera Rain Forests EcoregionSulawesi Lowland Rain Forests
Criton Butterflies of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Fauna of Bali Fauna of the Maluku Islands Fauna of Halmahera Fauna of Ternate Taxa named by Cajetan von Felder Butterflies described in 1860 {{Papilionidae-stub