''Troides prattorum'', the Buru Opalescent Birdwing, is a

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), ...

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 Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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

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 ...

Buru Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon Island, Ambon and Seram Island, Seram island ...

in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. Troides prattorum is a butterfly with a large wingspan, varying from 150 mm to 170 mm with a black body. The forewings are black in the male, dark brown or black in the female with veins edged with white. The hindwings are seen yellow or green or blue by an optical effect. They are veined with black and edged with a black festoon. Females are larger than males It is commercially bred, but supplies of this butterfly are sporadic, so it is still very rare in collections.

Related species

''Troides prattorum'' 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 ...

*'' Troides rhadamantus'' (Lucas, 1835) *'' Troides dohertyi'' (Rippon, 1893) *''Troides prattorum'' (Joicey & Talbot, 1922)

References

ARKive
Photos and more information *Ohya, Takashi,1980) ''Troides prattorum''. ''Rhopalocerists' Magazine'' 4(4):5-10, plate. *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

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)
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Buru Ecoregion
prattorum Butterflies of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Fauna of Buru Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Butterflies described in 1922 Taxa named by James John Joicey Taxa named by George Talbot (entomologist) {{papilionidae-stub