In the section on Global Priorities the conservation status of 75 assessed species of Papilionidae is presented, as published in The IUCN Red List. Of these, one is Critically Endangered and nine are Endangered. In this section on the “Top Ten” endangered species, the following detailed species accounts are presented:
Atrophaneura jophon Ceylon Rose Critically Endangered Sri Lanka
Graphium levassori (no common name) Endangered Comoro Islands
Graphium sandawanum Apo Swallowtail Endangered Mindanao, Philippines
Ornithoptera meridionalis Southern Tailed Birdwing Endangered PNG, Irian Jaya
Ornithoptera alexandrae Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing Endangered Papua New Guinea
Ornithoptera croesus Wallace’s Golden Birdwing Endangered Moluccas, Indonesia
Papilio homerus Homerus Swallowtail Endangered Jamaica
Papilio moerneri (no common name) Endangered New Ireland, PNG
Papilio aristophontes (no common name) Endangered Comoro Islands
Papilio chikae Luzon Peacock Swallowtail Endangered Luzon, Philippines
From this list, it can be seen that important countries for conservation action include:
Papua New Guinea, with three Endangered species
The Philippines, with two Endangered species
Indonesia, with two Endangered species
The Comoro Islands, with two Endangered species
Sri Lanka, with one Critically Endangered species
Jamaica, with one Endangered species.
The accounts in the following pages derive principally from Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: the IUCN Red Data Book by N.M. Collins & M.G. Morris. Whilst providing a sound baseline of information, they are inevitably in need of updating. The full volume, with references, may be downloaded from the IUCN Library System.
