Troides hypolitus

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Rippon's birdwing
Hypolitus.jpg
T. h. cellularis - female, upperside
Papilionidae - Troides hypolitus.JPG
Male, at National Museum (Prague)
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [1]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Troides
Species:
T. hypolitus
Binomial name
Troides hypolitus
(Cramer, 1775)
Synonyms
  • Papilio hypolitusCramer, [1775]
  • Ripponia hypolitus
  • Papilio remusC. & R. Felder, 1864
  • Ornithoptera hypolitus var. sulaensisStaudinger, 1895

Troides hypolitus, the Rippon's birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly endemic to the Moluccas and Sulawesi. It is not significantly threatened, but it is protected.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Troides hypolitus is a butterfly from the Australasian and Indomalayan realms. The first description was in 1775 by Pieter Cramer. This butterfly is a member of the family Papilionidae. Troides hypolitus is black. It has a chain of golden spots on the hindwings. The females are dark brown and they are bigger than the males.

Original figure in Uitlandsche Kapellen Cramer&Stoll-uitlandsche kapellen vol. 1- plate 010.jpg
Original figure in Uitlandsche Kapellen

Description

The wingspan is from 180 to 200 mm.

The male's forewings are black. Some veins are bordered by white colour. The underside is very similar to the upperside. The hindwings are grey. The outer edge is black and it contains a chain of golden spots. The veins are black. The underside is similar to the upperside, 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.

The sexes are sexually dimorphic. The female covers the upper range of the wingspan and is usually larger than the male. The basic colour of the female is dark brown. Many veins are bordered by white. The golden spots are bigger and they contain a black core. The underside is a very similar to the upperside.

As Ornithoptera hippolytus in Robert Henry Fernando Rippon Icones Ornithopterorum (1898 to 1906) OrnithopteraHippolytusRippon.jpg
As Ornithoptera hippolytus in Robert Henry Fernando Rippon Icones Ornithopterorum (1898 to 1906)

Distribution

Troides hypolitus is found in the Australasia and Indomalayan realms. The distribution is restricted on the Molucca Islands and Sulawesi.

Subspecies

from Sungai Pontolo, North Gorontalo Troides hypolitus cellularis.jpg
from Sungai Pontolo, North Gorontalo

There are four subspecies:

Conservation

This butterfly is strictly protected. It is listed in the appendix II from CITES.

Etymology

In Greek mythology Hippolytus was the son of Theseus.

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References

  1. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.