Troides aeacus is the northernmost birdwing butterfly as it stretches its range well into China.
It is fairly common is some areas, like around the Gulf of Thailand, while it is very rare in its northern areas. Ssp insularis from Sumatra is among the rarest of all birdwings.
T. aeacus can be seen in open patches of the forest. The imagoes float 4-5 metres above ground, but often dive down to tempting flowers.
|
TIP: |
| Auctor: | Felder, 1860 |
| Syn.: | rhadamantus Boisduval, 1836 (part.) |
| Syn.: | rhadamantus Doubleday, 1846 |
| Syn.: | amphrisus Kirby, 1871 (ned Fabricius, 1787) (part.) |
| Syn.: | thomsonii Bates, 1875 (part.) |
| Syn.: | minos Oberthür, 1879 (nec Cramer, 1779) |
| Syn.: | praecox Fruhstorfer, 1913 |
| Syn.: | thibeticus Staudinger & Bang-Haas, 1926 (nom. nud.) |
| Syn.: | thibetana Wernicke & Kotsch, 1936 (nom. nud.) |
| Syn.: | thibeticus ("Oberthür") Nakahara & Kurosawa, 1958 (nom. nud.) |
| Syn.: | tibetanus ("Oberthür") Kurosawa, Igarashi, Omoto & Kimura, 1974 |
| (nom. nud.) | |
| Distribution: | Nepal, N.E.India, Bhutan, Tibet, N.W.Burma, S.China, N.Thailand, |
| Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam | |
| Etymology: | Aeakus was judge of the underworld in Greek mythology (see |
| etymology under T.rhadamantus rhadamantus and T.minos). | |
| Notes: |
| Described forms: | |
| none |
| Auctor: | Okano & Okano, 1983 |
| Distribution: | China; Szechuan (=Sichuan) Province. Distribution in W.China is |
| unknown. | |
| Etymology: | Named after its type locality, Szechuan Province. |
| Notes: |
| Described forms: | |
| none |
| Auctor: | Fruhstorfer, 1902 |
| Syn.: | thomsoni Jordan, 1908 nec thomsonii Bates, 1875 |
| Distribution: | S.Thailand, Malay Peninsula |
| Etymology: | Named after its type locality, Malaya (Perak) |
| Notes: | Much confusion has occurred with regard to the name of this taxon. |
| Jordan (1908) and many later authors after him used the name | |
| thomsoni, which was derived from the name thomsonii. The | |
| name thomsonii was given to a specimen from Cambodia | |
| (Bates, 1875). The name thomsoni or thomsonii has thus nothing to | |
| do with T. aeacus from S.Thailand/West Malaysia. [Ref. Haugum & Low (1985)]. |
| Described forms: | |
| none |
| Auctor: | Ney, 1905 |
| Distribution: | N.E.Sumatra |
| Etymology: | Insularis = of islands |
| Notes: | Haugum & Low (1985) considered the taxon to be perhaps the |
| rearest of all birdwing butterflies, having been able to locate only five | |
| single specimens in collections. |
| Described forms: | |
| none |
| Auctor: | Rothschild, 1899 |
| Syn.: | formosana Rippon, 1906 |
| Syn.: | kaguya Nakahara & Esaki, 1930 |
| Syn.: | formonsanus D'Abrera, 1975 (lapsus) |
| Distribution: | S. & S.E. Taiwan |
| Etymology: | Named after its type locality, Formosa (= Taiwan). |
| Notes: |
| Described forms: | |
| mf. kuroboshi Nomura, 1937 | |
| mf. maeboshi Hirayama, 1941 | |
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