Troidini

Troidini is a tribe of swallowtail butterflies that consists of some 135 species in 12 genera. Members of this tribe are superlatively large among butterflies (in terms of both wingspan and surface area) and are often strikingly coloured.

Genera

The tribe consists of the following genera:

• Atrophaneura
• Battus
• Byasa
• Cressida
• Euryades
• Losaria
• Ornithoptera
• Pachliopta
• Parides
• Pharmacophagus
• Trogonoptera
• Troides

Ecology

Members of this tribe feed on poisonous pipevine plants, typically of the genus Aristolochia, as larvae. As a result, they themselves are poisonous and unpalatable to predators (Pinheiro 1986), like the pipevine swallowtail, and are mimicked by other butterflies (Scott 1986).

Examples of butterflies in Troidini

• Atrophaneura varuna
  Atrophaneura varuna
• Battus philenor
  Battus philenor
• Byasa polyeuctes
  Byasa polyeuctes
• Cressida cressida
  Cressida cressida
• Euryades corethrus
  Euryades corethrus
• Losaria neptunus
  Losaria neptunus
• Ornithoptera euphorion
  Ornithoptera euphorion
• Pachliopta aristolochiae
  Pachliopta aristolochiae
• Parides neophilus
  Parides neophilus
• Pharmacophagus antenor
  Pharmacophagus antenor
• Trogonoptera brookiana
  Trogonoptera brookiana
• Troides magellanus
  Troides magellanus

Citations

• Pinheiro, Carlos E. G. (1996): Palatability and escaping ability in Neotropical butterflies: tests with wild kingbirds (Tyrannus melancholicus, Tyrannidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 59(4): 351–365. HTML abstract
• Scott, James A. (1986): The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press. Template:ISBN

References

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