Troides hypolitus
Encyclopedia
Rippon’s Birdwing, is a birdwing
Birdwing
Birdwings are papilionid butterflies native to the Indian Subcontinent, mainland and archipelagic Southeast Asia and Australasia, and are usually regarded as belonging to three genera: Ornithoptera, Trogonoptera and Troides. Some authorities include additional genera...

 butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 endemic to the Moluccas and Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

. It is not significantly threatened, but it is protected.
Troides hypolitus is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in 1775 by Cramer. The wingspan is about 18 – 20 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. Troides hypolitus is black. It has a chain of golden spots on the hind wings. The females are dark-brown and they are bigger than the males.

Description

The fore wings are black. Some veins are bordered by white colour.
The underside of Troides hypolitus is a copy from upside.

The hind wings of Troides hypolitus are grey. The outer edge is black and it contains a chain of golden spots. The veins are black.
The underside is a copy from upside. But, the basic colour is white.

The body (abdomen) is black and yellow, but the underside is white and yellowish. It looks like a wasp. Head and thorax are black. The nape has a red hair-coat.

Sex differences: The female covers the upper range of the wing-span. It is larger than the male. The basic colour of the female is dark-brown. Many veins are bordered by white colour. The golden spots are bigger and they contains a black core. The underside is a copy from upside.

Distribution

Troides hypolitus is a butterfly from the Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia) ecozone. The distribution is restricted on Molucca Island and Celebes.

General information

The first description of this butterfly was in 1775 by Cramer. There are three subspecies.
  • Troides hypolitus antiope
  • Troides hypolitus cellularis
  • Troides hypolitus sulaensis


This butterfly is strictly protected. It is listed in the appendix II from CITES.
Protection provisions / Red List
  • CITES: (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora):
    • Appendix II- (as at 12.02.2008)
  • EU regulation on trading with species of wild Fauna and Flora:
    • Appendix B- (as at 19.08.2005)
  • IUCN Red List of threatened species:
    • no entry- (as at 2008)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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