Papua Insects Foundation (Lepidoptera/Papilionidae)

There are 29 species of the family Papilionidae in Papua Indonesia. 10 species of the tribe Leptocircini, 9 of the tribe Troidini and 10 of the tribe Papilionini.
The most spectacular butterfly species are without doubt the birdwing butterflies of the genus Ornithoptera. Most of the Ornithoptera species are genuine Papuan butterflies. Ornithoptera alexandrae (Rothschild, 1907) does not occur in Papua Indonesia but flies on the other side of the mainland of New Guinea in a small area in Papua New Guinea (Taututu, Popondetta, Afore, Wanigela).
The systematics of the family Papilionidae are studied by several authors including Rothschild (1895) and Jordan (1908-10) who placed all of the Papilioninae species into the genus Papilio, but they had sorted them into species groups mainly based on the adult stage: the butterfly. The authors Ford (1944), Munroe (1961), Hancock (1983), Igarashi (1979), Miller (1987), Häuser (1993) and Parsons (1996) studied the family Papilionidae more and more systematically using also more and more data of early stages.
In this website I use the systematics given by Miller (1987) combined with the results of Parsons (1996), excluding the polydorus group which is here regarded as a distinct genus: Pachliopta Reakirt, 1864.
Since Jordan in 1908 proposed his ordening of the genus Papilio in species groups, all later authors followed him concerning the genus Atrophaneura sensu Parsons (1996) in using the same species groups. Of course later discovered species are added to the species groups. This shows that there is apparently no doubt on the consistency of these groups.
I do fully agree with Parsons (1996) about the strong evidence of early stage characteristics for searching the origin of butterfly groups, but one cannot ignore the relatively young specialisms of the adults. These indicate the latest steps of evolution that has caused the distinct groups within the bigger group (Atrophaneura sensu Parsons). In the Indo-malayan region many species may have evolved in and since the Ice Age(s), in geological terms just quite recent. The polydorus group is more differentiated from the other species groups in Atrophaneura (sensu Parsons) because of its unique male genitalia in the Papilionidae. Therefore I will treat the polydorus group as a distinct genus, Pachliopta. The genus Pachliopta contains 17 species (Page & Treadaway,1995). In Papua only Pachliopta polydorus occurs.
Because conservation managers usually are no insect specialists, it is also better in view of nature conservation to indicate these different groups with a valid name. This does not alter anything in the older relations between these groups.

This page is under constant construction. This means that at any time new species can be added. Please check this page now and then for more information.

The checklist is based on relevant literature and completed with collection data.

Listed Papua species: 30 [3 endemic species and 31 endemic subspecies for Papua]

General literature (specific literature is given on the species pages)

Ford, E.B., 1944. Studies on the chemistry of pigments in the Lepidoptera, with reference to their bearings on systematics. 4. The classification of the Papilionidae.
Hancock, D.L., 1980. The status of the genera Atrophaneura Reakirt and Pachliopta Reakirt (LEP., Pap.). Aust.ent.Mag. 7(2): 27-32.
Hancock, D.L., 1983. Classification of the Papilionidae (LEP.): a phylogenetic approach. Smithersia 2:1-48.
Hancock, D.L., 1988. A revised classification of the genus Atrophaneura Reakirt (LEP., PAPILIONIDAE). Aust. ent. Mag. 15(1): 7-16, 1988.
Häuser, C.L., 1993. Critical comments on the phylogenetic relationships within the family Papilionidae. Nota Lepidopterologica 16(1):34-43.
Igarashi, S., 1979. Papilionidae and their early stages. (in Japanese) Vol.I Text:1-218. Kodansha, Tokyo.
Igarashi, S., 1984. The classification of the Papilionidae mainly based on the morphology of their immature stages. Tyô To Ga 34(2): 41-96.
Jordan, K., 1908-1910. Papilionidae, Papilio bis Armandia. in Seitz: Großschmetterlinge der Erde. Die Indo-Australische Tagfalter. IX: 11-109,112; Pls.1-49.
Miller, J.S., 1987. Phylogenetic studies in the Papilioninae (Lep.: Pap.). Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 186(4).
Morinaka, S. et al, 1999. Molecular phylogeny of Birdwing butterflies based on the represen tatives in most genera of the tribe Troidini (Lep., Papilionidae). Entomological Science 2(3): 347-358.
Munroe, E., 1961. The Classification of the Papilionidae (Lep.) The Canadian Entomologist suppl.17: 1-51.
Page, M.G.P. & C.G. Treadaway, 1995. Revision of the classification of Pachliopta aristolochiae (Fabricius, 1775) (Lep., Pap.) with special reference to the Philippine Islands. Nachr. entomol. Ver. Apollo, Suppl. 14: 125-148.
Parsons, M.J., 1996. Gondwana Evolution of the Troidine Swallowtails (Lep.: Pap.): Cladistic Reappraisals Using Mainly Immature Stage Characters, with Focus on the Birdwings Ornithoptera Boisduval. Bull. Kitakyushu Mus. Nat. Hist. 15: 43-118.
Parsons, M.J., 1998. The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea. Their Systematics and Biology. Academic Press.
Rothschild, W., 1895. A Revision of the Papilios of the eastern Hemisphere, exclusive of Africa. Nov. Zool. II(3):167-463.
Tsukada, E. & Y. Nishiyama, 1982. Papilionidae. In Tsukada, E. (ed.): Butterflies of the South East Asian Islands. 1: 457 pp. Plapac Co. Ltd. Tokyo.