Troides aeacus malaiianus
Fruhstorfer 1902 - The Golden Birdwing
Koh Samui only.
This is much the rarer of the two species of Birdwing found on Samui, and is probably at the nortnmost part of its range, being replaced further north by the nominate subspecies, T. aeacus aeacus. The main distinguishing mark is that, in the male, the black hindwing marginal spots have black dusting.
This is a species much in demand for Butterfly 'Art', and has been given total protection by the Thai Government. Whilst primarily a forest species, this species can be found visiting gardens where it likes to feed on Ixora flowers.
Flight Period
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| x | x | x | x | x |
Wingspan
100 - 140mm
Early Stages
Fully known. More detailed life history information is available from the following resources: S. Igarishi - Life Histories of Asian Butterflies, Volume.1 , Page 262.
Larval Foodplant
Thottea corymbosa and Thottea dependens
Range
Southern Peninsular Thailand and West Malaysia. Other subspecies can be found from North India to West China, Thailand, excepting the Peninsular.