''Troides haliphron'', the haliphron 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 Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

confined to Sulawesi and the lesser

Sunda Islands The Sunda Islands ( id, Kepulauan Sunda) are a group of islands in the Malay Archipelago.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sunda Islands" . ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. They consist of the Greater Sun ...

Description

''Troides haliphron'' is

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. Male: The forewings are ground colour black. The veins are bordered by white shading. The hindwings are ground colour black. There is a golden band in the discal area of the wing. The veins are black and they cleave the golden area. The underside is similar. Female: The female is larger than the male. The ground colour of the female is brown. The veins are bordered by white shading. There is a yellow area with dark veins on the hindwings. There is one chain of black spots is in the yellow area. The underside is similar. The abdomen is dark brown, and the underside has yellow spots. Head and thorax are black. The nape has a red hair coat. Image:TroidesHaliphronRippon.jpg, Image:TroidesHaliphron2Rippon.jpg,

Taxonomy

'' Troides staudingeri'' has at times been considered a subspecies of ''Troides haliphron''. Subspecies ''celebensis'' - the status of this

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

is uncertain. It has been placed within '' Troides criton'', and '' Troides oblongomaculatus''. It may be a hybrid with '' Troides helena hephaestus''.

Subspecies

A number of other subspecies have been described from different islands. They are: *''Troides haliphron celebensis'' - possibly central

Celebes 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 eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of ...

(see Taxonomy) *''Troides haliphron haliphron'' - South Celebes *''Troides haliphron naias'' -

Sumba Sumba ( id, Pulau Sumba) is an island in eastern Indonesia. It is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of , and the population was 779,049 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as a ...

*''Troides haliphron socrates'' -

Wetar Wetar is a tropical island which belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Maluku Barat Daya Islands (literally ''Southwest Islands'') of the Maluku Islands. It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which i ...

and

Sumbawa Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but there ...

(probably a local

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: * Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter dat ...

and not a subspecies) *''Troides haliphron selayarensis'' - Selayar Islands

Biology

The larva feeds on species ''

Aristolochia ''Aristolochia'' () is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the type genus of the family Aristolochiaceae. Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse clima ...

''.

Related species

''Troides haliphron '' 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 are: *''Troides haliphron'' (Boisduval, 1836) *'' Troides darsius'' (Gray, 853 *'' Troides vandepolli'' (Snellen, 1890) *'' Troides criton'' (C. & R. Felder, 1860) *'' Troides riedeli'' (Kirsch, 1885) *'' Troides plato'' (Wallace, 1865) *'' Troides staudingeri'' (Röber, 1888)

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 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

* *
''Troides haliphron'' at Ngypal
Images from Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (English/German)
Sulawesi Lowland Rain Forests Ecoregion
Haliphron Butterflies of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Butterflies described in 1836 {{Papilionidae-stub