Troides plato explained

Troides plato, the silver birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly endemic to Timor.

Described forms are nychonia Jordan, 1908 (male), chitonia Jordan, 1908 (male), and delormei Le Moult, 1931 (female).

Taxonomy

Previously considered to be a subspecies of haliphron, plato was raised to a full species by Haugum and Low on the basis of differences in the genitalia.

Biogeographic realm

Australasian realm.

Related species

Troides plato 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

• Book: Collins . N. Mark . Morris . Michael G. . 1985 . Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book . . Gland & Cambridge . 978-2-88032-603-6 . Biodiversity Heritage Library.
• 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

External links

• Troides plato at Nagypal
• Timor and Wetar Deciduous Forests