Troides aeacus (Golden Birdwing)

Troides aeacus, also called Golden Birdwing is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in 1860 by C. & R. Felder. The wingspan is about 15 – 16 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. Troides aeacus is black. The hind wings are golden. The females are dark-brown and larger than the males.

Photos for easy identification

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see some photos of Troides aeacus (Golden Birdwing) (male above / female below). Troides aeacus is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE from Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia).

Description

The fore wings are black. The veins are bordered by white or yellow colour.
The underside of Troides aeacus is very similar to the upside.

The hind wings of Troides aeacus are golden. The veins and the edge of the wing are black. In the back part of the golden wing there are three areas with black scales.
The underside is very similar to the upside.

The body (abdomen) is black and it has some yellow stripes. The underside of the abdomen is yellow. Head and thorax are black. The underside of thorax has a red hair-coat.

Sex differences: The female covers the upper range of the wing-span. The basic colour of the female is dark-brown or black. The veins are bordered by white colour. There is a golden area with dark veins on the hind wings. There is a chain of black spots in the golden area. The underside is a copy from upside.

Distribution

Troides aeacus is a butterfly from the Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia) ecozone. You can observe this butterfly from Nepal until Taiwan and Indonesia.

: This world map shows the ecozones in which this butterfly is distributed.

Larval food

Aristolochiaceae

Aristolochia acuminata
Aristolochia cathcartii
Aristolochia cucurbitifolia
Aristolochia debilis
Aristolochia elegans
Aristolochia griffithii
Aristolochia indica
Aristolochia kaempferi
Aristolochia liukiuensis
Aristolochia zollingeriana
Thottea corymbosa
Thottea tricornis

General information

The first description of this butterfly was in 1860 by C. & R. Felder. There are four subspecies.

Troides aeacus formosanus [Rothschild, 1899]
Troides aeacus insularis [Ney, 1905]
Troides aeacus malaiianus [Fruhstorfer, 1902]
Troides aeacus szechwanus [Okano & Okano, 1983]

Troides aeacus is, like all other Birdwings a true miracle of nature. This butterfly is strictly protected. It is listed in the appendix II from CITES.

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see another example of Troides aeacus (left male / right female).

Macro photos

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer macro photograph of Troides aeacus m (upside)

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer macro photograph of Troides aeacus m (underside)

Here you can see some macro photos of Troides aeacus.

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)