Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Butterfly

With a wingspan of 10 inches or more, the mature female Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera alexandrae) is the largest butterfly in the world. The male species is smaller in comparison to the female, but much brighter, and is colored differently - the male birdwing has iridescent yellow, pale blue and pale green markings on black wings and the female has cream markings on dark brown wings. Both sexes have yellow abdomens marked with red near their ventral wingbases.

This enormous butterfly was named by Alfred S. Meek (in 1907) to honor Queen Alexandra (1844-1925), the Danish wife of King Edward VII of England (1841-1910).

The Queen Alexandra is dependent upon a genus of rainforest vine called aristolochia - the only plant on which the Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly will deposit eggs - as the larval food plants of the butterfly (the larva will consume these plants to successfully develop to the pupating stage).
 
The Queen Alexandra's Birdwing takes about four months to pass through the four developmental stages, and can live another three months as an adult butterfly if it does not fall victim to predators.

Birdwings feed on the nectar of flowers that grow many meters above the ground in the sunny rain forest canopy, and they seldom come to earth. The eggs and larvae however are often victims of predators like ants, toads, snakes, lizards, and birds.

The Queen Alexandra is found only in New Guinea, living in only a few valleys near Popondetta, and is listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Although a strong flier, it tends to stay within a very small range - making it even more susceptible to habitat loss due to agriculture, logging, and human encroachment.

Because of their beauty and size, collectors from the U.S., Europe, and Japan prize birdwing butterflies too. A single Queen Alexandra's specimen can fetch thousands of dollars, and hundreds of specimens have been sent overseas.

In 1968 laws came into effect protecting seven species of birdwing butterflies found in Papua New Guinea, making the collection or export of wild specimens illegal. Since the late 1970s, the government of PNG has supported a program to raise butterflies for export.