Birdwing Butterfly

Tagged: animal, bird, cat

Ornithoptera alexandrae

For many years the large, tropical birdwing butterthes have been eagerly sought by collectors, and some bird wings now change hands for substantial sums of money, either legally or illegally. Many are now threatened, and their conservation is hindered by a lack of knowledge of their habits. Some bird wing butterflies are very large; the Queen Alexandra’s bird wing from Papua New Guinea is, in fact, the largest butterfly in the world, with a wingspan of almost 11 inches (27.5 cm). The Richmond bird wings from Australia, on the other hand, is one of the smaller bird wings, with a wingspan of less than 6 inches (15 cm). The butterflies’ common name is a result of their size and shape; at one time they were said to be shot by hunters who mistook them for birds. As in other Ornithoptera species, the sexes differ in color as well as in size: Queen Alexandra males are powder blue, green, gold, and black, and Richmond males are shades of iridescent green and black.

The females of both species are dark brown, spotted with white and cream. Female bird wings are generally larger than their male counterparts, although their coloration is less spectacular. The butterflies have adapted to forest habitats where occasional flowers provide enough nectar to feed the adults. The males exploit certain tall trees as vantage points and as mating sites. Females move around between patches of rain forest in search of specific vines on which to lay their eggs. Bird wings butterflies have long been favorites with collectors. When all the species were listed by CITES, making it illegal for them to be offered for sale, a lucrative trade in smuggled specimens developed, with single Queen Alexandra’s bird wings fetching more than $500 on the black market. Protection from collecting has done little by itself, however, to improve the butterflies’ prospects, since the numbers actually changing hands are now small.

Statistics:

• Family: Papilionidae
• World population: Unknown
• Distribution: Queen Alexandra’s bird wing: Papua New Guinea. Richmond bird wing: subtropical Queensland and New South Wales, Australia
• Diet: Caterpillars feed on forest vine of
• Breeding: Eggs laid singly on upper side of leaves of host plant; they hatch into caterpillars that feed on plant for about 4 weeks before developing into a chrysalis. Chrysalis hatches into adult butterfly after about 3 weeks
• Habitat: Open woodland and tropical rain forest
• Size: Wingspan: Queen Alexandra’s bird wing: up to 11 in (27.5 cm). Richmond bird wing: less than 6 in (15 cm)
• Form: Large butterflies with 2 pairs of conspicuous wings, the leading pair much longer than the second
• Related endangered species: Obi bird wing butterfly (Ornithoptera aesacus); Rothschild’s bird wing butterfly

Habitat Destruction

A much greater threat comes from the destruction of their habitats and the food plants they live on. Birdwing caterpillars feed selectively on certain species of tropical forest vine belonging to the genus Aristolochia. These vines occur only in rain forest and frequently have a rather patchy distribution, especially where they have suffered from human interference in the form of timber-felling or forest clearing for urban development or farming. Over the past 10 years some important species of the vines have become scarce except in a few national parks, which are not always large enough to guarantee their long-term survival.

The loss of the vines has in turn threatened some of the birdwing species with extinction. The Queen Alexandra’s and Richmond birdwings face particularly severe problems. Both have relatively small distributions that are especially vulnerable to forest clearance and the disappearance of food plants and breeding grounds. Queen Alexandra’s birdwing larvae apparently feed exclusively on a particular species of the vine Aristolochia dielsiana. Although the vine is widely distributed in Papua New Guinea, it is only available in sufficient quantities to support the huge, ravenous Queen Alexandra’s caterpillars in the province of Oro. Only Oro has enough of the volcanic, phosphate-rich soils that the vines need if they are to flourish. Richmond birdwing larvae depend on another vine, A. praevenosa. Their only natural food plant is found in lowland rain forests. However, at higher altitudes-above 2,500 feet (800 m)-on the border ranges of Queensland and New South Wales the Richmond birdwing larvae may also feed on a variant subspecies of A. deltantha. Only when research has figured out all such complexities will biologists fully understand the life cycle of the remarkable birdwing butterflies. Yet such knowledge is necessary if strategies are to be designed to protect them.

 

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