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Cairns Birdwing

Ornithoptera euphorion

Description:

The Cairns Birdwing is a species of birdwing butterfly endemic to northeastern Australia. Other common names include Cooktown Birdwing and Northern Birdwing.Males have a predominately black upper wing with emerald green flashes, however the female lacks the green coloring, having a plain black upper wing with white patches. The female is the larger of the two sexes. Females have a wingspan reaching of up to 150 mm, males - 125 mm. Adults are freely attracted to flowers, including Lantana, Hibiscus and Bougainvillea.

Habitat:

Its favoured habitat is primary rainforest, although the species will breed readily in a home garden if the correct larval host plants are grown.

Notes:

@ Garden center. The species is abundant throughout its range and is not threatened.

1 Species ID Suggestions

Cairns Birdwing (Male)
Ornithoptera euphorion Ornithoptera euphorion


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30 Comments (1–25)

tibiprada
tibiprada 10 years ago

Added...Thank you, Ryan Fezz

tibiprada
tibiprada 10 years ago

you too? ...lol
Thank you, Adarsha B S

Adarsha B S
Adarsha B S 10 years ago

How come i missed this...beautiful spotting :)

Ryan Fezz
Ryan Fezz 10 years ago

Take it from someone in the industry, if you saw this at Butterfly World (and the background of the shot suggests so) then this is Ornithoptera priamus, as it is the only common Ornithoptera available for import.

mi mariposa favorita ^^

ceherzog
ceherzog 11 years ago

Was this butterfly found flying free..or was it in a butterfly enclosure? It wouldn't be too good to have another Australian exotic in FL, beautiful though it is.

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

ThePalGuy; glad you like it !

ThePalGuy
ThePalGuy 11 years ago

Wow, such a beautiful butterfly. The colours are outstanding.

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

AdamBrown; conversely :-)

AdamBrown
AdamBrown 11 years ago

thanks for following me!

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

AdamBrown: Thanks :-)

AdamBrown
AdamBrown 11 years ago

very cool butterfly!

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

OnengDyah, indeed , thanks !

OnengDyah
OnengDyah 11 years ago

Beautiful....

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

indeed...thanks, Matthijs

Matthijs
Matthijs 11 years ago

Nice one! beautiful colours..

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

Thank you guys, eulalia rubio,CoastalJHawk

CoastalJHawk
CoastalJHawk 11 years ago

Amazing!!!

eulalia rubio
eulalia rubio 11 years ago

Very nice.

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

MayraSpringmann: surprisingly , not a native species.

MayraSpringmann
MayraSpringmann 11 years ago

Incredible! A beautiful colours!

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

PattyC: Thanks !

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

LivanEscudero: You're always right !

tibiprada
tibiprada 11 years ago

NuwanChathuranga: Thanks so much :-)

patty
patty 11 years ago

BeAuTiFuL bUtTeRfLy ! and picture =)

tibiprada
Spotted by
tibiprada

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

Spotted on Jun 2, 2012
Submitted on Jun 4, 2012

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