Troides rhadamantus

Troides rhadamantus is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in 1835 by Lucas. The wingspan is about 14 – 16 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. Troides rhadamantus 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 rhadamantus (male above / female below). Troides rhadamantus is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE from Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia).

Description

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

The hind wings of Troides rhadamantus are golden. The veins and the edge of the wing are black.
The underside is very similar to the upside.

The body (abdomen) is black, but the underside is yellow. Head and thorax are black. The underside of thorax has red hairs.

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 large golden area with dark veins on the hind wings. At the edge there is a chain of golden spots. The underside is a copy from upside.

Distribution

Troides rhadamantus is a butterfly from the Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia) ecozone. You can observe this butterfly on the Philippines.

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

Larval food

Aristolochiaceae

Aristolochia acuminata

General information

The first description of this butterfly was in 1835 by Lucas. There are no subspecies.

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

Macro photos

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

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

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

Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer; macro photograph of Troides rhadamantus f (upside)

Here you can see some macro photos of Troides rhadamantus.

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)