National Museum of Natural Science

The common rose butterfly diverged in the late Miocene and has at least 20 subspecies. It is widely distributed in the Indomalayan realm and the Lesser Sunda Islands east of the Wallace Line. Wingspan is 7-9.4 cm. It has a peach and black body. The wing base color is dark brown. There are ash white stripes along both sides of the wing veins except at the base of the forewings. There are 3-5 white markings on the outer margin of the discal cell of the hindwings and the outer margin is wavy with 6-7 peach or golden brown spots, which are more obvious on the ventral side of the wings. The larvae feed on birthworts (Aristolochia spp.). Pictured here is Taiwan subspecies P. a. interposita.

Pachliopta aristolochiae