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Trogonoptera brookiana
Rajah Brooke's birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana) is a birdwing butterfly from the family papilionidae of butterfly. Both sexes resemble the more restricted relative, the Palawan birdwing, but males of Rajah Brooke's birdwing have more green to the hindwings. The wingspan of Rajah Brooke's birdwing is 15–17 cm (5.9–6.7 in). The wings of males are mainly black. Each forewing has seven tooth-shaped electric-green markings, while there is a relatively large metalic green patch on the hindwings.
Spotted on May 27, 2017
Submitted on Jun 25, 2017
5 Comments
Thanks for the explanation, @shekainah.
It looks Rajah Brooke to me, so its possible that its an escapee or released or could be 'introduced' species through the Butterfly Farms, if this is spotted in the wild.
And the same thing too with Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, which is from Papua New Guinea, considered as Endangered and trading of it is probably illegal, so it is quite amazing if ever, the Butterfly Farms could get hold of it!
@AlbertKang, honestly I am not 100% sure of the accuracy of my ID so I stand corrected. This photo was actually from my father's (john alaban) file also a PN spotter and it was shot deep inside a salty swamp forest while he's in a bonsai hunting trek. According to him there are butterfly farms in nearby provinces (iloilo and aklan) in Panay island also that breeds RB and other imported species for use as a framed wall decor. Maybe that explains why we have them in the wild though we are not sure how they got out. He further said that he even have some sightings of Queen Alexandra's birdwing.
Not too familiar, but according to Wikipedia, Rajah Brooke's distribution does not includes Philippines, or more so Panay Island.
Is this seen in the wild or is this in a Butterfly farm?
@Zlatan Celebic, thanks.
Now, that's a beauty...