The Cairns BirdwingBirdwings are butterflies in the swallowtail family, that belong to the genera Trogonoptera, Troides, and Ornithoptera. Most recent authorities recognise 36 species, however, this is debated, and some authorities include additional genera.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Birdwing
Biggest butterfly: Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) Female Queen Alexandra's birdwings are the biggest butterflies in the world, boasting a wingspan of around 27 centimetres. The endangered species lives in the rainforests of northern Papua New Guinea and plays an important role in the ecosystem.
Papilio ulysses, the Ulysses butterfly (also commonly known as the Blue emperor), is a large swallowtail butterfly of Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Its size varies depending on subspecies, but the wingspan is about 10.5 cm (4.1 in) in Queensland.
The purple copper butterfly is one of Australia's rarest butterfly species and is only found in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. Its habitat is restricted to elevations above 900 metres. The purple copper butterfly feeds only on a subspecies of blackthorn (Bursaria spinosa subspecies lasiophylla).
The largest Australian caterpillar is that of the White Stemmed Gum Moth : Chelepteryx collesi with a length up to 13 cms.
Shield-backed katydid (Siliquofera sp.) Growing to 13cm, the largest in Australia and one of the largest in the world. A wingspan of up to 8cm. A wingspan up to 15cm.
Giant Wood Moths are common along the Queensland coast, but actually spotting one in the wild is a rarer phenomenon.
A longtime favorite of staff and visitors alike, the zebra longwing (Heliconius charitonius) is native from South America to south Texas and Florida, and occasionally an immigrant can be found as far north as Nebraska!
Butterflies are not just beautiful, they are also very important pollinators. The world's largest butterfly is the Queen Alexandra's birdwing and has an 11 inch wingspan.
Blue is the rarest occurring colour in nature, with no true blue pigments in plants. In some ways, blue butterflies are natures way of completing the colour spectrum. From South American wonders to local Tropical icons, here's some stunning blue butterflies from around the world…
This species has been described as the most variable butterfly in the world, with distinctive variations among females make finding two alike a rare occurrence. Printer : Southern Colour Print, Dunedin New Zealand.
The Orchard Butterfly is found in eastern Australia, from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Ornithoptera goliath, the Goliath birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly found in New Guinea. It is the second largest butterfly in the world, after the Queen Alexandra's birdwing.
Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, the largest butterfly in the world with a wingspan of 30cm—at least 10 times the size of common butterflies—was discovered in Papua New Guinea in 1906. More than a century later, one of the world's rarest species has become the most endangered.
Are golden butterflies real? Right now, the internet is obsessing over this video of a butterfly pupae that looks like gold when you set your eyes on it. However, 'not everything that glitters is gold' stands true here. The pupae actually belongs to a species of butterfly named cream-spotted tigerwing.
The blue morpho is among the largest butterflies in the world, with wings spanning from five to eight inches. Their vivid, iridescent blue coloring is a result of the microscopic scales on the backs of their wings, which reflect light.
Dainty Swallowtail Butterflies are the smallest swallowtail butterflies in Australia.
Pipevine Swallowtail. The glorious pipevine swallowtail is one of the most toxic of the poisonous butterflies. This big butterfly of North America and Central America has a wingspan of 3 to 4.5 inches.
Now they are adults, and wings open up a world of possibilities. They compete and flirt, dancing in the air, circling skyward in a butterfly ballet. When they do mate, they join at the abdomen, facing away from each other. How long they stay together varies widely from couple to couple.
“Excessive handling is not good for butterflies, it's not great to touch them; but a lot of time you can gently catch them in your hands and they will fly away and be just fine,” Tom Green County Horticulturist Allison Watkins said.
The vast majority of adult moths don't have mouths and are incapable of biting anything, much less you. For the most part, they also don't sting. However, moths begin life as larvae, called caterpillars, before they go through a metamorphosis process and emerge with wings.
Meet Creatonotos gangis. IF YOU'VE never heard of 'hair pencils' before, feast your eyes on the bizarre Creatonotos gangis. This moth takes courtship so seriously, it spreads its pheromones using enormous, inflatable appendages that unfurl from deep inside its abdomen.