''Troides dohertyi'', the Talaud black 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 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 ...

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 ...

to the

Talaud The Talaud Islands Regency () is a regency of North Sulawesi province, Indonesia. The Talaud Islands form an archipelago situated to the northeast of the Minahasa Peninsula, with a land area of 1,251.02 km2. It had a population of 83,434 at the 2 ...

and Sangihe islands. This

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

is ranked as a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of ''

Troides rhadamantus ''Troides rhadamantus'', the tropical 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 c ...

'' by some authors.

Description

Size range: 140 to 160 mm (females) wingspan. Male: The male is unique among birdwings, being almost entirely black on the upperside forewings and hindwings. The underside of the hindwing has the golden markings typical of ''Troides'' species but sometimes reduced. Rarely males have faint suggestions of gold colouration on the upper surface of their hindwing. Females may show yellow markings on their hindwings, and both sexes have whitish to tan stripes on their forewings (veins are bordered by white colour). Female: 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 ...

. The female covers the upper range of the wingspan. It is significantly larger than the male. The basic colour of the female is dark brown. The veins are bordered by white. There is a small yellow area with dark veins on the hindwings. The underside is a similar to the upperside. The abdomen is light brown, but the underside is yellow. Head and thorax are black. The underside of thorax has a red hair coat.Seitz, A., 1912-1927. Die Indo-Australien Tagfalter Grossschmetterlinge Erde 9 Image:PompeopteraDohertyiRippon.jpg, Image:PompeopteraDohertyi2Rippon.jpg, Image:Icones ornithopterorum (Pl. 64) (7704289196).jpg

Related species

''Troides dohertyi'' 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 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 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 species of 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 Philip ...

'' (C. & R. Felder, 1862) *''

Troides minos ''Troides minos'', the southern birdwing, also called Sahyadri birdwing, is a large and striking species of swallowtail butterfly. It is Endemic (ecology), endemic to southern India. With a wingspan of 140–190 mm, it is the second largest ...

'' (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 Europ ...

*''

'' (Lucas, 1835) *''Troides dohertyi'' (Rippon, 1893) *''

Troides prattorum ''Troides prattorum'', the Buru Opalescent Birdwing, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is endemic to Buru in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. Troides prattorum is a butterfly with a large wingspan, varying from 150 mm to ...

'' (Joicey & Talbot, 1922)

Conservation

''Troides dohertyi'' is classified as vulnerable on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

2006 (1) and listed on 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 ...

(2).

Etymology

It was named by

Robert Henry Fernando Rippon Robert Henry Fernando Rippon (c. 1836 – 16 January 1917) was an England, English zoologist, entomologist and illustrator. He was a musician for a while but took a keen amateur interest in entomology and published a major multi-volume work on th ...

, for

William Doherty William Doherty (May 15, 1857 in Cincinnati – May 25, 1901 in Nairobi) was an American entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera and later also collected birds for the Natural History Museum at Tring. He died of dysentery while in Nairobi. Tr ...

References

* *D'Abrera, B. (1975) ''Birdwing Butterflies of the World''. Country Life Books, London. *Haugum, J. & Low, A.M. 1978–1985. ''A Monograph of the Birdwing Butterflies''. 2 volumes. Scandinavian Press, Klampenborg; 663 pp. *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

''Troides dohertyi'' at NgypalArkive.org
Photos, more information

Images from

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)
Sulawesi Lowland Rain Forests Ecoregion
Dohertyi Butterflies of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Vulnerable fauna of Asia Butterflies described in 1903 Taxa named by Robert H. F. Rippon {{Papilionidae-stub