Troides criton

Troides criton, the Criton birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly found on the islands of Morotai, Halmahera, Bali, Bacan, Ternate and Obi in Indonesia.

Criton birdwing
Male (above) and female
Conservation status
CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Troides
Species:	T. criton
Binomial name
Troides criton Felder, 1860

Description

For explanation of terms, see External morphology of Lepidoptera.

Troides criton is sexually dimorphic.

Male: The ground colour of the forewings is black. A large discal golden area has veins are black veins. The underside is very similar.

Female: In the female some of the veins are bordered by white. There is a chain of internervular black spots in the golden area. The underside is very similar.

In both sexes the abdomen is brown with a yellow underside. The head and thorax are black and the underside of thorax has a red hair.

• 
• 
• 

Subspecies

• Troides criton criton Sulawesi, Moluccas, Morotai, Ternate, Tidore, Halmahera, Kasiruta, Sula Islands, Bacan
• Troides criton critonides (Fruhstorfer, 1903) Obi Islands

Related species

Troides criton is a member of the Troides haliphron species group. The members of this clade are:

• Troides haliphron (Boisduval, 1836)
• Troides darsius (Gray, [1853])
• Troides vandepolli (Snellen, 1890)
• Troides criton (C. & R. Felder, 1860)
• Troides riedeli (Kirsch, 1885)
• Troides plato (Wallace, 1865)
• Troides staudingeri (Röber, 1888)

References

• D'Abrera, B. (1975). Birdwing Butterflies of the World. Country Life Books, London.
• Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN 978-2-88032-603-6 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
• Felder, C. & R. Felder (1865-1875). Rhopalocera. In Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte "Novara" um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen Commodore B. von Wullerstorf-Urbair. Zoologischer Theil. Zweiter Band:Abtheilung. Wien: vi + 548 + [1] pp in 5 parts, 140 pls.
• Haugum, J. & Low, A.M. (1978-1985). A Monograph of the Birdwing Butterflies. 2 volumes. Scandinavian Press, Klampenborg; 663 pp.
• Kurt Rumbucher and Oliver Schäffler (2004). Part 19, Papilionidae X. Troides III. in Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Eds. Butterflies of the World. Keltern: Goecke & Evers ISBN 978-3-937783-02-4

External links

• Butterflycorner Images from Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (English/German)
• Nagypal
• Halmahera Rain Forests Ecoregion
• Sulawesi Lowland Rain Forests