Troides hypolitus

Description

For terms see External morphology of Lepidoptera.

The wingspan is from 180–200 mm.

The male's forewings are black. Some veins are bordered by white colour. The underside is very similar to the upperside. The hindwings are grey. The outer edge is black and it contains a chain of golden spots. The veins are black. The underside is similar to the upperside, but the basic colour is white.

The body (abdomen) is black and yellow, but the underside is white and yellowish. It looks like a wasp. Head and thorax are black. The nape has a red hair-coat.

The sexes are sexually dimorphic. The female covers the upper range of the wingspan and is usually larger than the male. The basic colour of the female is dark brown. Many veins are bordered by white. The golden spots are bigger and they contain a black core. The underside is a very similar to the upperside.

Distribution

Troides hypolitus is found in the Australasia and Indomalayan realms. The distribution is restricted on the Molucca Islands and Sulawesi.

Subspecies

There are four subspecies:

• Troides hypolitus hypolitus (Moluccas)
• Troides hypolitus antiope Rothschild, 1908 (Morotai)
• Troides hypolitus cellularis Rothschild, 1895 (Sulawesi, Talaud)
• Troides hypolitus sulaensis (Staudinger, 1895) (Sula Islands)