Troides rhadamantus

Troides rhadamantus, the tropical golden birdwing,^[2] is a birdwing butterfly that inhabits the Philippines. The species was first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1835. There are many subspecies on islands of the Philippines and some authors consider Troides plateni and Troides dohertyi as subspecies of T. rhadamantus.

Golden birdwing
Male, upperside
Conservation status
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Troides
Species:	T. rhadamantus
Binomial name
Troides rhadamantus (H. Lucas, 1835)

Troides rhadamantus flying, captured in Luzon, Philippines

Troides rhadamantus is a butterfly with a large wingspan, between 140 mm and 160 mm, with very slightly scalloped hindwings.

The male has black forewings with veins edged with white. The hindwings are yellow with black veins and a marginal band of black triangles.

The female, larger than the male, has black forewings, decorated with veins more widely edged with white. The hindwings are yellow with black veins, and broadly edged with black. ^[3]

Biology Host plants The host plants of its caterpillar are aristolochia, Aristolochia acuminata, Aristolochia elegans, Aristolochia philippensis, Aristolochia ramosi and Aristolochia tagala

Related species

Troides rhadamantus is a member of the Troides aeacus species group. The members of this clade are:

• Troides aeacus (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1860)
• Troides magellanus (C. Felder & R. Felder, 1862)
• Troides minos (Cramer, [1779])
• Troides rhadamantus (H. Lucas, 1835)
• Troides dohertyi (Rippon, 1893)
• Troides prattorum (Joicey & Talbot, 1922)