Trogonoptera brookiana

Trogonoptera brookiana, Rajah Brooke's birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly from the rainforests of the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Natuna, Sumatra, and various small islands west of Sumatra (Banyak, Simeulue, Batu and Mentawai).^[4][5] The butterfly was named by the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1855, after James Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak.^[5] The larval host plants are Aristolochia acuminata and A. foveolata.^[6] Adults sip flower nectar from plants such as Bauhinia.^[5] Rajah Brooke's birdwing is a protected species, listed under Appendix II of CITES,^[6][7] meaning that international export is restricted to those who have been granted a permit. It is the national butterfly of Malaysia.^[8]

Rajah Brooke's birdwing
Trogonoptera brookiana albescens
Adult male (above) and female, dorsal surfaces
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Trogonoptera
Species:	T. brookiana
Binomial name
Trogonoptera brookiana Wallace, 1855
Synonyms
Ornithoptera brookiana Wallace, 1855[3] Troides brookiana

Description

Both sexes resemble the more restricted relative, the Palawan birdwing, but males of Rajah Brooke's birdwing have more green to the hindwings. The wingspan of Rajah Brooke's birdwing is 15–17 cm (5.9–6.7 in).^[6] The wings of males are mainly black. Each forewing has seven tooth-shaped electric-green markings, while there is a relatively large electric-green patch on the hindwings. The head is bright red and the body is black with red markings. The wings of females are browner with prominent white flashes at the tips of the forewings and at the base of the hindwings.^[6]

Taxonomy

Genus: Trogonoptera Rippon, 1890

Species: Trogonoptera brookiana Wallace, 1855

Subspecies: Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana (Wallace, 1855)

Form: Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana f. brookiana Wallace, 1855

Form: Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana f. julijae S.Hu, 2007

Subspecies: Trogonoptera brookiana toshikii Kobayashi, 1991

Subspecies: Trogonoptera brookiana akikoa Morita, 1994

Species: Trogonoptera trojana Honrath, 1886

Illustrations

Two males at Kuala Woh

• 
  Males from Icones Ornithopterorum volume 2
• 
  Male (bottom)