1) Sp. brookiana (Wallace, 185519))
Ssp. trogon (Snellen van Vollenhoven, 1860)
Ssp. albescens (Rothschild, 1895)
Ssp. mollumar D’Abrera, Dogett & Parker, 1976
Ssp. cardinaali Haugum & Low, 1982
Ssp. natunensis (Rothschild, 1908)
Ssp. brookiana (Wallace, 1855)
Ssp.(?) ‘javaensis’ (tentative name) Ohya, 2022
This is a representative species of Southeast Asia, which has been popularly known as the Malaysian Butterfly. Until 1970, only five subspecies were known, but in the 1980s, five more subspecies were newly discovered, and there are now ten subspecies. The ♂ patches among many subspecies are so similar to each other that they are often difficult to identify, but there is regional variation in size and extent of the white streaks on FW of ♀. On Malay Peninsula, ssp. albescens ♂ is famous for its group sucking behavior, but this is not seen in other subspecies.
(Distribution) [DCD 16]
![[DCD 16]](https://www.ag.kagawa-u.ac.jp/birdwingbutterflies/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DCD16-scaled.jpg){kind=link}
INDONESIA: Sumatra Is., Banyak Islands, Batu Islands, Mentawai Islands, Lingga Is., Kalimantan (=Borneo) Is., Balabac Is., North Natuna Islands, Tinjil Is. (Java); MALAYSIA: Malay Peninsula.
(Vertical Distribution)
0 – 1, 500 m. a. s. l.
(Spotted pattern)
♂: The ground color of the wings is black, with 7 green wedge-shaped patches along the outer margin that gradually decreased in size from inner margin to the apex of wing. On HW, there is a similar colored patch extending beyond the cell basally. Scent-fold on inner margin present, with a blackish brown hairbrush. Underside: FW with two lines of cobalt-blue at anterior basal portion of the radius and just below the cubitus in space 1b and composed of yellowish green sagittal-shaped spots pointing inwards in spaces 2 – 6. HW with a ray of cobalt-blue just below V8th near its base, and a line of small white sagittal-shaped spots on submarginal area.
♀: The spot-pattern is basically the same as ♂, but its ground color of wings is lightly brownish and wedge-shaped green patches are pale and yellowish. FW has wide white apical streaks, which has considerable regional variation in size. On HW, a line of small white sagittal-shaped spots on submarginal area. The underside of wings is almost identical to that of ♂, but there is a row of white sagittal-shaped spots from subapical region to submarginal area on FW.
(Larval foodplant)
Aristolochia foveolata, A. kerri.8)