Pachliopta adamas (Zinken, 1831)

CONSERVATION

IUCN Redlist category
Least Concern (IUCN 2020)

Rationale for redlist categorization
Pachliopta adamas has been assessed as Least Concern. This species had not been previously assessed in a global status assessment of swallowtails by Collins and Morris (1985), as it was at the time still considered a subspecies of P. aristolochiae. Although there is limited data available on the population abundance and trends for this species, Vane-Wright and De Jong found it to be not threatened in 2003. Due to the large size of the island of Java alone, which is around 150,000 km2, and its occurrence on several additional Indonesian islands, this species has a relatively large extent of occurrence of more than 500,000 km2. There are threats potentially impacting this species, e.g. through various forms of habitat loss, but at present it is unknown if and how these pressures are affecting this species. Additional research is recommended to ensure accurate status assessments of this species in the future. (IUCN 2020)

Threat category
Ecosystem conversion|Ecosystem degradation,Species mortality (IUCN 2020)

Cause of stress
Intentional use (species is the target),Shifting agriculture (IUCN 2020)

Described Threats
The major threat to this species is deforestation which may as a result lead to the decline of birthwort, the butterflies' host plant. Some species in the Aristolochiaceae family are already listed under a threatened category on the IUCN Red List. It is likely that a decrease in the population of these plants could have a detrimental effect on the population of this species , therefore more research should be carried out into the current status of the species' host plants, and whether the species is monophagous or can utilize several different species. Polyphagy would likely reduce the extinction risk of this species. Rainforest in Indonesia is cleared predominantly so that the land can be used instead for oil palm plantations. As reported by the Forest Ministry, Indonesia has one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world, and particularly in Java (where this species is native) 2,500 hectares/year of rainforest were reportedly lost between 2003-2006 (Hance 2010). There has been a loss of forest on Java estimated at approximately 1.37% between 2001-2012 (Hansen et al. 2013), and this decline is likely to impact the species in at least parts of its range. Trade of these butterflies may also be a threat, however the extent to which this occurs is unknown. (IUCN 2020)

Commercial use
The species can be found for sale on the website insect-trade.eu for $1-5 per specimen. The extent at which organisms of this species are traded is unknown. (IUCN 2020)

Kind of conservation needed
Site/area protection (IUCN 2020)

Applied conservation actions
This species was not assessed during a global assessment of the conservation status of swallowtails in 1985 (Collins and Morris 1985) as, at this point, it was still considered a subspecies of P. aristolochiae. Although there is limited data available on the population abundance and trends for this species, Vane-Wright and De Jong found it to be not threatened in 2003. The organisation Conservation International is encouraging the protection of the remaining rainforest in Java, by supporting reforestation efforts and community education. However, most of the areas of rainforest that are protected in Java are small and in total only 7% of the island is protected (WWF 2018f). It is important that larger areas are effectively protected to ensure continued levels of biodiversity. Further action should be taken to assess whether habitat loss or reforestation projects are impacting the occurrence of Aristolochiaceae . Population monitoring of this species would be very beneficial in order to assess if and how potential threats are affecting the species. (IUCN 2020)

REFERENCES

  • Collins, N.M. and Morris, M.G. 1985. Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World. The IUCN Red Data Book. IUCN, Gland and Cambridge.
  • Hance, J. 2010. Little more than 10,000 hectares of rainforest remains on Java. Mongabay.
  • Hansen, M.C., Potapov, P.V., Moore, R., Hancher, M., Turubanova, S.A., Tyukavina, A., Thau, D., Stehman, S.V., Goetz, S.J., Loveland, T.R., Kommareddy, A,. Egorov, A., Chini, L., Justice, C.O. and Townshend, J.R.G. 2013. High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change. Science 342: 850-853.
  • IUCN. 2020. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2020-3. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 10 December 2020).
  • WWF 2018f: Morrison, J. Indonesia: island of Java. (Accessed: 10th September 2018).

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