Bhutan's Glorie, Bhutanitis lidderdalii (Atkinson, 1873).

Appearance: On the upper side black with thin white bands. On the hindwings a pair of tails on each wing with a red spot.
Wingspan: 90 - 110 mm.

Habitat: flies in forests from 1,500 to 2,700 m.
It generally sticks to the ridges rather than the valleys.

Behaviour: Flies at treetop level with a slow, drifting, unpredictable flight similar to the Malaysian Giant Tree-nymph, Idea lynceus (Drury, 1773).
The transparent grayish underside of the butterflies makes it difficult to distinguish in the shadows.
During rain it sits on leaves with the forewings hanging over the hindwings,
which hides its bright upper color.
The butterfly has a hilltop habit and visits flowers of various species.

Flight time: It is known to have two generations,
the first in May and June and the second from August to October

Egg. Larva and pupa: Probably unpleasant due to its host plant being Aristolochia species.

Host plants: Larvae on Aristolochia species such as:
Aristolochia kaempferii, A. mandshuriensis, A. griffithii, A. shimadai and A. debilis.

Distribution: Found in Bhutan and northeastern India (Assam, Sikkim, Manipur and Nagaland). Also found in northern Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and the Szechwan and Yunnan provinces of China.

There are a total of four subspecies of Bhutanitis lidderdalii with type localities being:
Ssp. lidderdalii (Atkinson 1873) - nominative form. Buxa, Bhutan.
Ssp. spinosa (Stichel, 1907) - Sichuan, China.
Ssp. ocellatomaculata (Igarashi, 1979) - Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
Ssp. nobucoae (Morita, 1997) - northern Kachin, Myanmar.

History: A spectacular insect that is highly sought after by collectors.
The first was found by Dr. R. Lidderdale,
from whose collection the butterfly was first described by William Stephen Atkinson in 1873.

Bhutanitis lidderdalei was first discovered by Dr. Lidderdale in 1868 in Bhutan, about 1800 m., near Buxa.
Between 1886 and 1890, the late H. J. Elwes sent three parties of native collectors from Darjeeling to collect the butterfly.
The first collector was plundered by the Bhotias,
the other was attacked by fever and one of its members died,
the third had a man killed by a tiger, and all returned without success.
Copies were later acquired by Mr. A. V. Knyvett, then police inspector,
who gave them to Mr. Elwes.

Named in English: Bhutan Glory or Himalayan Bhutan Glory.

Listed under CITES Appendices II, the status of the butterfly has been recorded as rare by some authorities but as being of least concern in 2019 by the Red Book of the IUCN.

Similar species:
Lepidoptera and some other life forms

Bhutanitis lidderdalii (Atkinson, 1873). Bhutan, Sikkim, N.India, W.China, Naga Hills, Chin Hills. Bhutan Glory.
Bhutanitis ludlowi (Gabriel, 1942). Bhutan.

Bhutanitis thaidina (Blanchard, 1871). Tibet, China.
Armandia thaidina (Blanchard, 1871); C. R. hebd. Seanc. Acad. Sci. 72: 809 nota 3.

Subgenus Yunnanopapilio Hiura, 1980
Yunnanopapilio Hiura, 1980; Bull. Osaka Mus. Nat. Hist. 33: 71, 80; TS:
Armandia mansfieldi Riley
Yunnanopapilio; [NHM-BMW]

Bhutanitis mansfieldi (Riley, 1939) Bhutan.
Armandia mansfieldi Riley, 1939; Entomologist 72: 207.

Reference:

GBIF: Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
World distribution:
Bhutan's Glorie, Bhutanitis lidderdalii (Atkinson, 1873).

Wikipedia: Bhutan's Glorie, Bhutanitis lidderdalii (Atkinson, 1873).

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Bhutan's Glorie, Bhutanitis lidderdalii (Atkinson, 1873).

Udseende: På oversiden sort med tynde hvide bånd. På bagvinge et par haler på hver vinger med rødt spot.
Vingefang: 90 - 110 mm.

Habitat: flyver i skove fra 1.500 til 2.700 m.
Det holder sig generelt til højdedragene frem for dalene.

Adfærd: Flyver oppe i trætopniveau med en langsom, drivende, uforudsigelig flugt, der ligner de store hvide trænymfer (Idea lynceus).
Sommerfuglenes gennemsigtige grålige underside gør det svært at skelne i skyggerne.
Under regn sidder den på blade med forvingerne hængende over bagvingerne,
hvilket skjuler dens lyse øvre farve.
Sommerfuglen har vane med at hilltoppe, og besøger blomster af forskellige arter.

Flyvetid: Den er kendt for at have to generationer,
den første i maj og juni og den anden fra august til oktober.

Æg. Larve og puppe: Sandsynligvis ubehagelig på grund af, at dens fødeplante er Aristolochia-arter.
Værtsplanter: Larve på Aristolochia-arter såsom:
A. kaempferii, A. mandshuriensis, A. griffithii, A. shimadai og A. debilis.

Udbredelse: Findes i Bhutan og det nordøstlige Indien (Assam, Sikkim, Manipur og Nagaland). Findes også i det nordlige Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos og Szechwan og Yunnan-provinserne i Kina.

Der er i alt fire underarter af B. lidderdalii med typelokaliteter er:
Ssp. lidderdalii (Atkinson 1873) - nominantform. Buxa, Bhutan.
Ssp. spinosa (Stichel, 1907) - Sichuan, Kina.
Ssp. ocellatomaculata (Igarashi, 1979) - Chiang Mai, det nordlige Thailand.
Ssp. nobucoae (Morita, 1997) - nordlige Kachin, Myanmar.

Historik: Et spektakulært insekt, der er meget eftertragtet af samlere.
Den første er fundet af Dr. R. Lidderdale,
fra hvis samling sommerfuglen først blev beskrevet af William Stephen Atkinson i 1873.

Bhutanitis lidderdalei blev først opdaget af Dr. Lidderdale i 1868 i Bhutan, omkring 1800 m., nær Buxa.
Mellem 1886 og 1890 sendte afdøde H. J. Elwes tre grupper af indfødte samlere fra Darjeeling for at indsamle sommerfuglen.
Den første samler blev plyndret af Bhotiaerne,
den anden blev angrebet af feber og et af dens medlemmer døde,
den tredje fik en mand dræbt af en tiger, og alle vendte tilbage uden held.
Eksemplarer blev senere anskaffet af hr. A. V. Knyvett, daværende politiinspektør,
som gav dem til hr. Elwes.

Hedder på engelsk: Bhutan Glory or Himalayan Bhutan Glory.

Listed under CITES Appendices II, the status of the butterfly has been recorded as rare by some authorities but as being of least concern in 2019 by the Red Book of the IUCN.

Vista from the Bhutan Glory, Bhutanitis habitat. Arunachal Pradesh, India august 2017. Photographer: Hiroaki Takenouchi

Hiroaki Takenouchi
27 september 2024
Vista from the Bhutanitis habitat, August 2017, Arunachal Pradesh, India.

A throwback to my trips to the amazing Arunachal Pradesh in NE India where you can see two species of
Bhutan Glory both B. lidderdalii & the mythical B. ludlowi, as well as the Kaiser-i-Hind, Teinopalpus imperialis.

I'm running another tour (only one or two more spaces now) in August 2025 - please PM me if you would like more details!

Hiroaki Takenouchi
27 september 2024
Udsigt fra Bhutanitis -habitatet, august 2017, Arunachal Pradesh, Indien.

En tilbagevenden til mine ture til det fantastiske Arunachal Pradesh i NØ Indien, hvor du kan se to arter af
Bhutan Glory (både B. lidderdalii & den mytiske B. ludlowi, samt Kaiser-i-Hind, Teinopalpus imperialis).

Jeg kører endnu en tur (kun en eller to pladser mere nu) i august 2025 - send mig en PM, hvis du vil have flere detaljer!

Ludlow's Bhutan's Swallowtail or Bhutan's Little Glorie, Bhutanitis ludlowi (Gabriel, 1942).

Is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae, endemic to Bhutan and recently recorded in
India. It belongs to the subfamily Parnassiinae subfamily which also contains the Apollo butterflies.

Biology: The 2011 expedition also revealed considerable biological information about B. ludlowi (Choden, 2011).
Behaviour: In 2012, a photograph was taken of a live specimen of B. ludlowi in or adjacent to the
Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh (Padmanabhan, 2012). This record comes from an
area where Bhutanitis lidderdalii lidderdalii also occurs, suggesting these taxa are sympatric, or at
least nearly so (based on data from photographs of B. lidderdalii shown on the Indian Foundation
for Butterflies, Butterflies of India website).

Video footage of live adults show that their flight is rapid with a deep wingbeat and frequent gliding. The forewings provide all propulsion, while the hindwings are unpowered during normal flight and trail behind the butterfly. Unlike many swallowtail butterflies, B. ludlowi does not continuously flutter its wings while feeding.
Viburnum cylindricum flowers were the most commonly used adult food source.

Eegs, larvae: Bhutanitis ludlowi eggs are smaller than in other Bhutanitis and are laid on top of each other in a stacked pile arrangement.

Foodplants: Its host plant is Aristolochia griffithi,
which is also utilised as a host plant by other Bhutanitis taxa.

The first pilot: project for the conservation of Bhutanitis ludlowi in India was started in July 2023
by a research team from Nature Mates - Nature Club, Kolkata.
The team, led by Ms Sarika Baidya and funded by the Conservation Leadership Programme,
is working with the local community and forest department of Arunachal Pradesh for population
monitoring and awareness generation for B. ludlowi in India.

Distribution: As so few specimens are known, B. ludlowi is rarely illustrated. It is similar in
appearance to the allied B. lidderdalii but has broader wings with the transverse bands grey instead of white (Chou, 2000).
The distribution of both B. ludlowi and B. lidderdalii may overlap in Bhutan and Yunnan, China (Chou 2000), although it is unknown whether they co-occur in the same habitat.

GBIF: Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
World distribution:
Ludlow's Bhutan's Swallowtail, Bhutanitis ludlowi (Gabriel, 1942).

Indien; Erling Krabbe. 2016.

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Butterflies from Oriental

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