''Troides rhadamantus'', the tropical golden 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 ...

that inhabits the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The species was first described by

Hippolyte Lucas Pierre-Hippolyte Lucas (17 January 1814 – 5 July 1899) was a French entomologist. Lucas was an assistant-naturalist at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. From 1839 to 1842 he studied fauna as part of the scientific commission on the ex ...

in 1835. There are many

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 ...

on islands of the Philippines and some authors consider '' Troides plateni'' and '' Troides dohertyi'' as subspecies of ''T. rhadamantus''. ''Troides rhadamantus'' is a butterfly with a large wingspan, between 140 mm and 160 mm, with very slightly scalloped hindwings. The male has black forewings with veins edged with white. The hindwings are yellow with black veins and a marginal band of black triangles. The female, larger than the male, has black forewings, decorated with veins more widely edged with white. The hindwings are yellow with black veins, and broadly edged with black. Seitz, A., 1912-1927. Die Indo-Australien Tagfalter Grossschmetterlinge Erde 9 Biology Host plants The host plants of its caterpillar are aristolochia, ''Aristolochia acuminata'', ''Aristolochia elegans'', ''Aristolochia philippensis'', ''Aristolochia ramosi'' and ''Aristolochia tagala''

Related species

''Troides rhadamantus'' 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. Felder & 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. Felder & 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'' (H. 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)

References

External links

*Nagypal, Ton
"''Troides rhadamantus''"
''The World of Birdwing Butterflies''. Archived September 9, 2018. rhadamantus Butterflies of Asia Lepidoptera of the Philippines Butterflies described in 1835 Taxa named by Hippolyte Lucas {{Papilionidae-stub