Malesian Butterflies
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Malesian Butterflies
Troides andromache Staudinger, 1892

CONSERVATION

IUCN Redlist category
Vulnerable (IUCN 2020)

Rationale for redlist categorization
Troides andromache has been assessed as Vulnerable. This relatively little known species occurs in a restricted range in Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei with an estimated extent of occurrence of just over 2,100 square km. Given the generally very localised occurrence of this species, the area of occupancy is likely to be much smaller than this; in addition, the species is not known to occur at high population densities and may be highly fragmented. Previous status assessments report significant threats for this species from habitat loss: specifically, for tourism development, cattle farming, timber concessions, sawmills and hydro-electric projects; evidence from observations suggests that these had an impact on the species. At present, our best guess of the number of locations is around 10 locations at most, with current data from Global Forest Watch suggesting extensive loss of forest in the range of this species. (IUCN 2020)

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

Cause of stress
Intentional use (species is the target),Shifting agriculture,Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest],Dams (size unknown) (IUCN 2020)

Described Threats
Previous status assessments for this species report significant threats from habitat loss: specifically, parts of Pinosuk Peninsula have undergone development for tourism (Collins and Morris 1985). At the same time, the cutting of large swathes of forest on the Pinosuk plateau for cattle farming, sawmills and hydro-electric projects caused significant habitat loss (Collins and Morris 1985); this species has often been observed on the plateau, suggesting this habitat loss may have had an impact on the species. Timber concessions may also cause significant threat to the species (Collins and Morris 1985). A large area of eastern Kinabalu, whcih was designated as a national park, has also been leased for copper mining on a 30 year concession (starting in 1973). The species is listed on CITES Appendix II. Recently traded individuals appear to come mostly from captive or ranched populations (CITES 2015). Butterfly ranching is generally thought of as a sound, economically viable and sustainable rural industry (Wambi 1996, Hanscom 1993, Burrows 2003 in Small 2007), but see (e.g., Papua New Guinea; Small 2007). It has been stated that overcollecting seldom becomes a threat to butterflies, due to the reproductive capacity of insects and the difficulty in capturing significant numbers of the population (Pyle and Hughes 1978, in Parsons 1992). However, where birdwing butterflies are highly specific to host plants and where density of these hosts plants limits population size, collection in conjunction with habitat loss could have significant impacts on the species or subpopulations.Trade was not stated as a significant threat to the species, since it is not very well known in trade, with old rather than recently caught specimen being occasionally traded (D'Abrera 1975, Collins and Morris 1985). (IUCN 2020)

Commercial use
Butterflies are mostly traded dead for the curio market (Collins and Morris 1985, New and Collins 1991). Between 1998 to 2007, 306,000 butterflies were traded from Southeast Asia, with 13,000 of these being wild-caught (Nijman 2010). There is a distinct shift towards ranched and captive-bred individuals in trade from 2003 onwards; in 1985, it was reported that globally less than 10% of trade was in ranched individuals (Collins and Morris 1985). Altogether at least 34 different species were recorded in trade, most of which belonged to the birdwing butterflies ( Troides and Ornithoptera ; Nijman 2010). It should be noted that trade in butterflies may be underreported, because of difficulties monitoring. New and Collins (1991) noted that trade is extremely difficult to monitor because transportation of unpinned specimens is easy, especially of comparatively low value species which may instead be traded at high volumes.

Birdwings can fetch high prices on the market. For example, butterfly collectors have paid high prices for birdwing butterflies of this genus: a pair of Ornithoptera meridionalis was reported to have fetched USD 3,400 in Germany (Melisch and Schutz 2000). Reported prices for Troides are however much lower. For example, a more recent pricing was around $85 per pair of T. hypolitus , around $15 per individual of T. helena and between $43 and $85 per pair of T. haliphron (Putri 2016). This species is listed on Appendix II of CITES. Recent data from the CITES Trade database show, that since 2000 and 2015 around 2,000 individuals were exported from Indonesia and Malaysia (around 1,380 and 700 individuals respectively; CITES 2015). All reported exports from Indonesia are from ranched or captive populations, and mainly to Japan (CITES 2015). Indonesian specimens are mostly taken from the wild, and traded to EU countries and Japan (CITES 2015).

There have never been any direct exports of this species from Indonesia to any EU Member State, noted by UNEP-WCMC in 2009; suspensions for wild and ranched specimens from Indonesia came into place in 1999 (UNEP-WCMC 2007, UNEP-WCMC 2009). (IUCN 2020)

Applied conservation actions
In an IUCN Red List assessment of Papilionidae in 1985, Collins and Morris (1985) listed this species as Indeterminate. This species, together with its congenerics and all species of the genera Ornithoptera and Trogonoptera , is listed on CITES Appendix II (with the exception of O. alexandrae which is an Appendix I species; CITES 2008); this means that trade in these species is controlled in order to avoid utilization which may be incompatible with the species' survival. It is a protected species in Indonesia (UNEP-WCMC 2009). The species occurs in at least one National Park, namely Mount Kinabalu National Park in Sabah (Collins and Morris 1985). Little is known about the ecology of this species, with little information in the published literature; additional research, especially surveying and monitoring would be advantageous to assess the impacts of any habitat loss on the species. In the 1985 assessment, habitat loss was not thought of causing immediate danger to the species, although future increases in pressure where deemed to have an impact (Collins and Morris 1985). New and Collins (1991) proposed action to conserve the rare montane swallowtails of East Malaysia through investigations of habitat requirements for all three species occurring on Mount Kinabalu and protection of the park from peripheral intrusion of agriculture. They specifically suggested that the Pinosuk Plateau which may be of high importance to this species, requires better protection (New and Collins 1991), especially since it is mostly outside the current borders of Mount Kinabalu National Park. This still appears to be the case based on the latest information from the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA 2016). (IUCN 2020)

REFERENCES

  • CITES. 2008. Appendices I, II and II. (Accessed: 23 September 2008).
  • CITES. 2015. CITES Trade Data Base. Available at: http://trade.cites.org/.
  • Collins, N.M. and Morris, M.G. 1985. Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World. The IUCN Red Data Book. IUCN, Gland and Cambridge.
  • D'Abrera, B. 1975. Birdwing Butterflies of the World. Lansdowne Press, Melbourne.
  • Hanscom, T. 1993. Setting hearts aflutter: little butterflies take wing as big business. The Rotarian 163: 16-19.
  • IUCN. 2020. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2020-3. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 10 December 2020).
  • Melisch, R. and Schutz, P. 2000. Butterflies and beetles in Germany. Traffic Bulletin 18: 91-93.
  • New, T.R. and Collins, N.M. 1991. Swallowtail butterflies: an action plan for their conservation. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources/Species Survival Commission Lepidoptera Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.
  • Nijman, V. 2010. An overview of international wildlife trade from Southeast Asia. Biodiversity and Conservation 19(1101-1114).
  • Parsons, M.J. 1992. The butterfly farming and trading industry in the Indo-Australian region and its role in tropical forest conservation. Tropical Lepidoptera 3(Suppl. 1): 1-31.
  • Putri, I.A.S.L.P. 2016. Handicraft of butterflies and moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera) in Bantimurung Nature Recreation Park and its implications on conservation. Biodiversitas 17(2): 823-831.
  • Pyle, R.M. and Hughes, S.A. 1978. Conservation and Utilization of the Insect Resources of Papua New Guinea. Wildlife Branch, Department of Natural Resources, Port Moresby.
  • Small, R.D.S. 2007. Becoming unsustainable? Recent trends in the formal sector of insect trading in Papua New Guinea. Oryx 41(3): 386-389.
  • UNEP-WCMC. 2007. Review of trade in ranched birdwing butterflies. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge.
  • UNEP-WCMC. 2009. Review of species from Indonesia subject to long-standing import suspensions. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge.
  • Wambi, D. 1996. Birds, bugs and butterflies. New Guinea Insight 6: 5-9.
  • WDPA. 2016. Database on Protected Areas. A database online managed by UNEP-WCMC/IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). Available at: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/wdpa/index.htm.

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