Troides cuneifera is a large butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 belonging to the swallowtail

Swallowtail butterfly

Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies that form the family Papilionidae. There are over 550 species, and though the majority are tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica...

 (papilionidae) family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 found in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

, Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

 and Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

.

Being very similar to Troides amphrysus

Troides amphrysus

Troides amphrysus is a birdwing butterfly in the genus Troides in the papilionidae family.-Subspecies:*T. a. amphrysus *T. a. ruficollis Troides amphrysus is a birdwing butterfly in the genus Troides in the papilionidae family.-Subspecies:*T. a. amphrysus (Java, Bali)*T. a. ruficollis Troides...

, the butterfly was originally described as Ornithoptera amphrisius var. cuneifera. The first to separate the two species was Pieter Cornelius Tobias Snellen in 1889. In Sumatra and Java it is a highlands species occurring up to an altitude of 2000 metres (6,561.7 ft), but it occurs as low as 300 metres (984.3 ft) in the Thai-Malay Peninsula. The species is in decline in Sumatra and Java due to human activities such as increased cultivation.

Troides cuneifera tantalus remains one of the great mysteries of the birdwing

Birdwing

Birdwings are papilionid butterflies native to the Indian Subcontinent, mainland and archipelagic Southeast Asia and Australasia, and are usually regarded as belonging to three genera: Ornithoptera, Trogonoptera and Troides. Some authorities include additional genera...

s. The taxon

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

is known from only one male and one female. When described, the specimens were claimed to originate from Kala Bula Hills or Kala Bala Hills, north Borneo.

The butterfly is considered to be beautiful.