Queen Alexandra's Birdwing
Encyclopedia
Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) is the largest butterfly
in the world.
The species was named by Lord Walter Rothschild
in 1907, in honour of Queen Alexandra
, wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom
. The first European to discover the species was Albert Stewart Meek
in 1906, a collector employed by Lord Walter Rothschild to collect natural history specimens from Papua New Guinea. Although the first specimen was taken with the aid of a small shotgun, Meek soon discovered the early stages and bred out most of the first specimens. It is restricted to the forests of Oro Province
in eastern Papua New Guinea
.
Though most authorities now classify this species in the genus Ornithoptera, it has formerly been placed in the genus Troides or Aethoptera. In 2001 the lepidopterist
Gilles Deslisle proposed placing it in its own subgenus (which some writers have treated as a genus); he originally proposed the name Zeunera, but this is a junior homonym
(with Zeunera Piton 1936 [Orthoptera]), and his replacement is Straatmana.
of 31 cm (12.2 inches), a body length of 8 cm (3.2 inches) and a body mass of up to 12 grams (0.42 oz), all enormous measurements for a butterfly. The female has brown wings with white markings and a cream-coloured body with a small section of red fur on its thorax. Males are smaller than females with brown wings that have iridescent blue and green markings and a bright yellow abdomen. The wingspan of the males is approximately 20 cm, but more usually about 16 cm. A spectacular form of the male is form atavus, which has gold spots on the hind wings.
(family Aristolochiaceae
), including P. dielsiana and P. schlecteri. They feed initially on fresh foliage of the hostplants and their own eggs, ultimately ringbark the vine before pupating. Plants of the Aristolochiaceae family contain aristoloic acids in their leaves and stems. This is believed to be a potent vertebrate poison and is accumulated by larvae during their development. Adults feed at flowers providing a broad platform for the adults to land on, including Hibiscus
.
(Nephila spp.) and some small birds.
The adults are powerful fliers most active in the early morning and again at dusk when they actively feed at flowers. Males also patrol areas of the host plants for newly emerged females early in the morning. Females may be seen searching for host plants for most of the day. Courtship is brief but spectacular; males hover above a potential mate, dousing her with a pheromone
to induce mating. Receptive females will allow the male to land and pair, while unreceptive females will fly off or otherwise discourage mating. Males are strongly territorial and will see off potential rivals, sometimes chasing small birds as well as other birdwing species. Flight is usually high in the rainforest canopy, but both sexes descend to within a few meters of the ground while feeding or laying blue eggs.
, Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. It is nonetheless abundant locally and requires old growth rainforest for its long term survival. The major threat for this species is habitat destruction for oil palm
plantations. However, it must be noted that the eruption of nearby Mount Lamington
in the 1950s destroyed a very large area of this species' former habitat and is a key reason for its current rarity. Because of its rarity, this butterfly fetches a very high price on the black market.
The species is also highly prized by collectors, with illegally traded specimens selling for thousands of dollars. Although collectors are often implicated with the decline of this species, habitat destruction is the main threat. Early collectors, frustrated by the height at which adults fly during the day, often used small shotguns to down specimens, but because collectors demand high quality specimens for their collections, most specimens are reared from larvae or pupae.
The species is listed on Appendix I of CITES, meaning that international trade is illegal. At the 2006 meeting of the CITES Animals Committee some suggested it should be moved to Appendix II (which would allow restricted trade in the species), as the conservation benefits of sustainable management perhaps are higher than those of the trade ban.
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...
in the world.
The species was named by Lord Walter Rothschild
Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild
Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild FRS , a scion of the Rothschild family, was a British banker, politician, and zoologist.-Biography:...
in 1907, in honour of Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
, wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
. The first European to discover the species was Albert Stewart Meek
Albert Stewart Meek
Albert Stewart Meek was an English bird collector and naturalist. The name Alfred S. Meek which can be read in several publications is referred to Albert Stewart Meek.-Biography:...
in 1906, a collector employed by Lord Walter Rothschild to collect natural history specimens from Papua New Guinea. Although the first specimen was taken with the aid of a small shotgun, Meek soon discovered the early stages and bred out most of the first specimens. It is restricted to the forests of Oro Province
Oro Province
Oro Province, formerly Northern Province, is a coastal province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The province covers 22,800 km², and has 133,065 inhabitants ....
in eastern Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
Though most authorities now classify this species in the genus Ornithoptera, it has formerly been placed in the genus Troides or Aethoptera. In 2001 the lepidopterist
Lepidopterist
A lepidopterist is a person who specialises in the study of Lepidoptera, members of an order encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
Gilles Deslisle proposed placing it in its own subgenus (which some writers have treated as a genus); he originally proposed the name Zeunera, but this is a junior homonym
Homonym (zoology)
In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon.The rule in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is that the first such name to be published is the senior homonym and is to be used ; any others are junior...
(with Zeunera Piton 1936 [Orthoptera]), and his replacement is Straatmana.
Description
Female Queen Alexandra's Birdwings are larger than males with markedly rounder, broader wings. The female can reach a wingspanWingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
of 31 cm (12.2 inches), a body length of 8 cm (3.2 inches) and a body mass of up to 12 grams (0.42 oz), all enormous measurements for a butterfly. The female has brown wings with white markings and a cream-coloured body with a small section of red fur on its thorax. Males are smaller than females with brown wings that have iridescent blue and green markings and a bright yellow abdomen. The wingspan of the males is approximately 20 cm, but more usually about 16 cm. A spectacular form of the male is form atavus, which has gold spots on the hind wings.
Host plants
Larvae of this species feed on the shell from which they hatched and then start to extract nutrients from pipe vines of the genus PararistolochiaPararistolochia
Pararistolochia is a genus of plant family Aristolochiaceae. It contains the following species :Species from Africa:* Pararistolochia ceropegioides, Hutch. & Dalz....
(family Aristolochiaceae
Aristolochiaceae
The Aristolochiaceae, or the Birthwort family, are a family of flowering plants with 7 genera and about 400 species belonging to the order Piperales...
), including P. dielsiana and P. schlecteri. They feed initially on fresh foliage of the hostplants and their own eggs, ultimately ringbark the vine before pupating. Plants of the Aristolochiaceae family contain aristoloic acids in their leaves and stems. This is believed to be a potent vertebrate poison and is accumulated by larvae during their development. Adults feed at flowers providing a broad platform for the adults to land on, including Hibiscus
Hibiscus
Hibiscus is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is quite large, containing several hundred species that are native to warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world...
.
Biology
The female Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing lays about 27 eggs during its entire lifespan; this estimate was made by Ray Straatman by dissecting adult females. Newly emerged larvae eat their own eggshells before feeding on fresh foliage. The larva is black with red tubercles and has a cream-colored band or saddle in the middle of its body. The larvae always ringbark the host vine before moving onto adjacent leaves or vines to become a pupa, which is golden yellow or tan in colour with black markings. Male pupae may be distinguished by a faint charcoal patch on the wing cases; this becomes a band of special scales in the adult butterfly called a sex brand. The time taken for this species to develop from egg to pupa is approximately six weeks, with the pupal stage taking a month or more. Adults emerge from the pupae early in the morning while humidity is still high, as the enormous wings may dry out before they have fully expanded if the humidity drops. The adults may live for three months or more and have few predators, excluding large Orb Weaving spidersGolden silk orb-weaver
The golden silk orb-weavers are a genus of araneomorph spiders noted for the impressive webs they weave. Nephila consists of numerous individual species found around the world. They are also commonly called golden orb-weavers, giant wood spiders, or banana spiders...
(Nephila spp.) and some small birds.
The adults are powerful fliers most active in the early morning and again at dusk when they actively feed at flowers. Males also patrol areas of the host plants for newly emerged females early in the morning. Females may be seen searching for host plants for most of the day. Courtship is brief but spectacular; males hover above a potential mate, dousing her with a pheromone
Pheromone
A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...
to induce mating. Receptive females will allow the male to land and pair, while unreceptive females will fly off or otherwise discourage mating. Males are strongly territorial and will see off potential rivals, sometimes chasing small birds as well as other birdwing species. Flight is usually high in the rainforest canopy, but both sexes descend to within a few meters of the ground while feeding or laying blue eggs.
Threats
The Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing is considered endangered by the IUCN, being restricted to approximately 100 square kilometres of coastal rainforest near PopondettaPopondetta
Popondetta is the capital of Oro Province in Papua New Guinea.In 1951 the town became the focus of relief efforts after nearby Mount Lamington erupted and killed 4,000 people....
, Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. It is nonetheless abundant locally and requires old growth rainforest for its long term survival. The major threat for this species is habitat destruction for oil palm
Oil palm
The oil palms comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American Oil Palm Elaeis oleifera is native to...
plantations. However, it must be noted that the eruption of nearby Mount Lamington
Mount Lamington
Mount Lamington is an andesitic stratovolcano in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. The forested peak of the volcano had not been recognised as such until its devastating eruption in 1951 that caused about 3,000 deaths....
in the 1950s destroyed a very large area of this species' former habitat and is a key reason for its current rarity. Because of its rarity, this butterfly fetches a very high price on the black market.
The species is also highly prized by collectors, with illegally traded specimens selling for thousands of dollars. Although collectors are often implicated with the decline of this species, habitat destruction is the main threat. Early collectors, frustrated by the height at which adults fly during the day, often used small shotguns to down specimens, but because collectors demand high quality specimens for their collections, most specimens are reared from larvae or pupae.
The species is listed on Appendix I of CITES, meaning that international trade is illegal. At the 2006 meeting of the CITES Animals Committee some suggested it should be moved to Appendix II (which would allow restricted trade in the species), as the conservation benefits of sustainable management perhaps are higher than those of the trade ban.