CARL MARSHALL: Queensland Birdwing

This is Ornithoptera priamus the Queensland Birdwing butterfly also sometimes known as the Cairns butterfly and is part of the Troidini clade of Swallowtail butterflies (Papilionidae).

This species is one of the largest in the world, and is the largest butterfly in terms of wingspan found in Australia. The females have a massive wingspan of up to 22cm with the males being considerably smaller, although equally spectacular in appearance due to their brilliant colours. Predictably, because of their enormous size they do tend to display slow aeronautical skills and can be easily captured with a net. They have a wide distribution throughout Australasia from Papua New Guinea, the Solomon islands to northern Australia, most notably Queensland. They were originally described from Seram Island in Indonesia in 1758 by Linnaeus.
This is the first time this species has emerged in the UK in the last ten years and we at Stratford upon Avon Butterfly Farm are very proud of them indeed.

Carl Marshall
Stratford Buttrerfly Farm.