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Text and photographs
protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins
2007, and must not be published
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Butterflies of
Malaysia and Borneo
Rajah Brooke's
Birdwing
Trogonoptera brookiana
WALLACE, 1855
Family -
PAPILIONIDAE
subfamily -
PAPILIONINAE
Tribe - TROIDINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian
Hoskins 2007-2008, and must not be reproduced or published in part
or in whole elsewhere in any form without written permission from
Adrian Hoskins. Breach of copyright will be pursued by litigation.
Website designed, produced and owned by
Adrian Hoskins
Rajah Brooke's
Birdwing Trogonoptera brookiana albescens,
West Malaysia
Introduction
With a wingspan of 17cms,
and black wings adorned with metallic green markings, this is undoubtedly one of
the most spectacular and beautiful butterflies in the world.
Rajah Brooke's Birdwing was discovered on Borneo in 1855 by the legendary
explorer and naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace.
It is widely distributed throughout Borneo, Sumatra, Palawan and the central
states of West Malaysia, and in a few areas is very abundant, but populations
tend to be very localised. It also occurs as a scarce species in Thailand.
Sadly the butterflies are killed in vast numbers, mainly by children, paid a
pittance for the dead specimens by dealers who sell them on to gift shops. The
majority are badly damaged because the children are rarely equipped with
butterfly nets, and instead rely on killing the butterflies by throwing stones
at them.
The
subspecies trogon,
which occurs on peninsular Malaysia in Johore state, and also on Sumatra and
Palawan, differs slightly in appearance and behaviour from
albescens,
and is considered to be a separate species by some taxonomists.
Habitats
In West Malaysia the butterfly occurs in tropical rainforest habitats at
altitudes from sea level to about 1200 metres but is commonest at about 500
metres.
Lifecycle
The globular reddish eggs are laid singly on the leaves of climbing vines of the
genus
Aristolochia.
The
fully grown caterpillar is dark greyish brown, with a light grey saddle mark on
the back. The body is adorned with buff and grey tubercles along the back and
sides. As with other members of the Papilionidae the larva is equipped with an
eversible forked structure ( osmaterium ) behind the head, which secretes a
pungent fluid that deters ants, wasps and other predators.
The
pupa is apple green, marked with violet, and is attached vertically by the
cremaster and a silk girdle, to a vine stem.
Most
tropical butterflies tend to be very seasonal in appearance, but in my
experience Rajah Brooke's Birdwing is found in roughly equal numbers throughout
the dry season, and in marginally reduced numbers in the rainy season.
Adult behaviour
The butterflies are powerful flyers, capable of travelling from one side of a river to the other with no more than 2 or 3 wing-beats. They habitually glide in tight circles when about to settle, whether on the ground or on the foliage of trees.
Males congregate at hot sulphur springs and other sources of minerals. In the Cameron Highlands foothills of Malaysia I have seen as many as 50 settled together on the banks of rivers, and at Mulu national park in Sarawak guides have told me that it is common to see as many as 100 assembled on dry river beds at certain times of year.
In Sabah the butterflies once assembled in vast numbers at Poring hot springs, but most of the area where the butterflies congregated has now been built on.
On Palawan and Sumatra males do not congregate, and are only rarely seen at sulphur springs, preferring instead to obtain their sustenance almost exclusively from the flowers of forest trees.
Males in Sarawak and Sabah also sometimes visit flowers for nectar - in the Danum valley for example I have often seen them in the company of Graphium sarpedon visiting the flowers of Bauhinia trees. They also visit Mussaenda bushes, and no doubt other plants as well, but do not seem to be attracted to Lantana.
Females are much scarcer. My visits to peninsular Malaysia and Borneo have enabled me to see upwards of 500 males, but only a single female - seen in flight as I crossed a rope suspension bridge on a minor tributary. Some authors postulate the notion that males outnumber females by a ratio of as high as 200:1, but it is more likely that the sexes occur in approximately equal numbers, but that the males due to their habits are far more visible.
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