CONSERVATION
IUCN Redlist category Least Concern (IUCN 2020)
Rationale for redlist categorization Troides criton has been assessed as Least Concern. Although this species has a relatively restricted range in northern Maluku, its extent of occurrence is around 46,500 km?. The species is known from six major islands plus outlying islands. While there is evidence for some forest loss on some of the islands where the species occurs, there appears to be much forest remaining within its range. Given that there is little knowledge on the ecology and habitats of this species, additional research should be carried out to define the species habitat and range extent on the various islands where it occurs. (IUCN 2020)
Threat category Species mortality (IUCN 2020)
Cause of stress Intentional use (species is the target) (IUCN 2020)
Described Threats The species is listed on CITES Appendix II together with the genera Ornithoptera and Trogonoptera , with the exception of O. alexandrae which is listed on Appendix I. 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). However, there are concerns that butterfly ranching may not be as sustainable in some countries as it is often perceived to be (e.g., Papua New Guinea; Small 2007). This is based on a lack of data and species monitoring to assess the status of butterfly populations, and for many species, such monitoring is fraught with difficulty due to inaccessibility of their habitat (Small 2007). 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. 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.
Habitat loss appears to be the primary threat for most birdwing butterflies. Data from Global Forest Watch suggests some forest loss on some of the islands where the species occurs, however, there appears to be much forest remaining within its range (Hansen et al. 2013). (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 13,600 individuals were exported from Indonesia (CITES 2015). More than 80% of these come from ranched populations (CITES 2015). This is in agreement with previous trends from the country between 1987 and 2005, where ranched individuals were the most common source of traded individuals (UNEP-WCMC 2007). (IUCN 2020)
Applied conservation actions This species is not known to be threatened (Collins and Morris 1985, Vane-Wright and de Jong 2003). In 1991, New and Collins suggested work to fully integrate swallowtails into national conservation planning (1991), primarily for those species which were identified as threatened at the time - however, any such work is likely to have benefited all birdwing species in the country. The species is protected in Indonesia (Vane-Wright and de Jong 2003). It is also listed on Appendix II of CITES, along with all other Troides, Trogonoptera and Ornithoptera (with the exception of O. alexandrae which is listed on Appendix I). Given that there is little knowledge on the ecology and habitats of this species, additional research should be carried out to define the species habitat and range extent on the various islands where it occurs. (IUCN 2020)
REFERENCES
- 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.
- Hanscom, T. 1993. Setting hearts aflutter: little butterflies take wing as big business. The Rotarian 163: 16-19.
- 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).
- 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.
- Vane-Wright, R. I., and de Jong, R. 2003. The butterflies of Sulawesi: annotated checklist for a critical island fauna. Zoologische Verhandelingen 343: 1-267.
- Vane-Wright, R.I. and de Jong, R. 2003. The butterflies of Sulawesi: annotated checklist for a critical island fauna. Zoologische Verhandelingen 343: 1-267.
- Wambi, D. 1996. Birds, bugs and butterflies. New Guinea Insight 6: 5-9.