CONSERVATION
IUCN Redlist category Near Threatened (IUCN 2020)
Rationale for redlist categorization Ornithoptea rothschildi has been assessed as Near Threatened. The species has a restricted extent of occurrence of between 600 - 2,000 km?. There are only few locality data available for the species, resulting in a highly restricted area of occupancy, although this may be an underestimate. It is likely to occur in few locations, taking species collection as the predominant threat to the species, due to its restricted range. Assuming, given the low number of known localities, that the species occurs at no more than ten locations, with no continuing declines, the species would be listed as Near Threatened. Similarly, assuming the potential plausible threat of over-collecting should trade regulations be relaxed for the species, given the species occurs in some abundance in suitable habitat, it is unlikely that this threat could lead to a decline of the species towards a Critically Endangered or even Extinct category over short time, again suggesting a Near Threatened assessment. As with other birdwing species, a lack of monitoring data impedes our ability to properly assess the status of these species. More research is required into assessing population status and monitoring populations over time. (IUCN 2020)
Threat category Species mortality (IUCN 2020)
Cause of stress Intentional use (species is the target) (IUCN 2020)
Described Threats This species features in the species trade. 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). At least in the past, this species was threatened by heavy collection pressure (Collins and Morris 1985) which has caused much concern at the time (Haugum and Low 1979, Pasternak 1981). The species is listed on CITES Appendix II together with all other Ornithoptera , with the exception of O. alexandrae which is listed on Appendix I. Recently traded individuals appear to come primarily from ranched populations, and the most recent records of wild-caught individuals exported from Indonesia stem from 2000 (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). 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.
At the time of the 1985 swallowtail assessment, there were no specific threats affecting the habitat of the species in the Arfak mountains, although the area around the mountains was already densely populated (Collins and Morris 1985). According to Global Forest Watch, forest loss in the area has been relatively low between 2001 and 2014 (Hansen et al. 2013). There are signs of deforestation on Google Earth, although this appears more around the periphery and lower altitudes of the range (Google Earth, accessed 17th March 2016). (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). This species is listed with all other birdwings on CITES Appendix II ( Ornithoptera, Trogonoptera and Troides , with the exception of O. alexandrae which is listed on Appendix I). Most specimens exported from Indonesia are traded from ranched populations, with overall ca. nearly 24,000 of the reported ca. 25,000 specimens exported from Indonesia between 2000 and 2015 originating from ranched individuals (CITES 2015). There are records of only around 500 wild caught individuals being exported in 2000 (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 was a priority species for conservation projects in New and Collins' (1991) action plan for the world's swallowtail butterflies, due to it being a restricted country endemic. This suggested specifically the integration of swallowtails into conservation planning in Indonesia; it highlighted specifically the work by the WWF/PHPA Arfak Moutains Butterfly Farming Project, which centres on the Arfak mountains as an important habitat for birdwing butterflies, including this species (New and Collins 1991).
This species features in the butterfly trade. This had led to declines in some populations in the past (Haugum and Low 1979). The species is now listed on CITES Appendix II, along with all other Ornithoptera species, with the exception of O. alexandrae which is instead listed on CITES Appendix I. Given that most specimens in the CITES trade records stem from ranched individuals, threats through trade appear to have been widely addressed (CITES 2015). At least part of this species' range is contained within the Pegunungan Arfak Nature Reserve (WDPA 2013). As with other birdwing species, a lack of monitoring data impedes our ability to properly assess the status of these species. More research is required into assessing population status and monitoring populations over time. (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.
- Haugum, J. and Low, A.M. 1979. A Monograph of the Birdwing Butterflies. Scandinavian Science Press, Klampenborg.
- 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.
- Pasternak, J. 1981. On the rediscovery of Ornithoptera meridionalis tarunggarensis Joicey & Talbot in a new locality in Kamrau Bay, south-west Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Transactions ofthe Himeji Natural History Association 1981: 2-14.
- 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.
- Wambi, D. 1996. Birds, bugs and butterflies. New Guinea Insight 6: 5-9.
- WDPA. 2013. World database of Protected Areas. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net.