Rajah Brooke's Birdwing Butterfly

Description:

A distinctive black and electric-green birdwing butterfly from the rainforests in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Natuna and various small islands west of Sumatra (Banyak, Simeulue, Batu and Mentawai). The wings of the male butterflies are black and each forewing has seven teeth-shaped electric-green markings (the smaller hindwings are also black with green markings). The head is bright red and the body is black with red markings. The wings of the female butterflies are browner with prominent white flashes at the tips of the forewings and at the base of the hindwings. Both genders resemble the more restricted relative, the Palawan Birdwing, but (among others) males of the Rajah Brooke's Birdwing have more green to the rearwings

Notes:

Rajah Brooke's Birdwing is a protected species, listed under Appendix II of CITES, meaning that international trade is restricted. The butterfly is the national butterfly of Malaysia