Name: Ornithoptera priamus, pair

Location: Seram Island

 

Commonly known as the Common Green Birdwing or Priam's Birdwing, this is a widespread species of birdwing butterfly found in the central and south Moluccas, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, and northeast Australia.

 

Males fore wings are velvety black, with green stripes. Their hind wings are green. At the wing leading edge (costa) there is a basal yellow-gold spots. There is also a postdiscal chain of black spots. The edge of the hind wing is black.

 

Females are larger than the males. Their basic colour is dark-brown. There are white postdiscal spots on the fore wings, and chains of larger white postdiscal spots with dark centres on the hindwings. Their underside is very similar to the upper.

 

Price: $149.95

Framed: 10.75" x 15.0", Oak

Name: Ornithoptera rothschildi, pair

Location: Irian Barat  

 

The Rothschild Birdwing was first described by Kendrick in 1911.  His collector, Mr. C.B. Pratt, on his excursion through the Arfak Mountain region, took a male specimen on Mt. Koberai at an altitude of 2700 metres.

It is smaller than other related species due to its medium altitude habitus. The female as well has a profusion of short hairs insulating the abdomen against the higher altitude colder temperatures.

 

This species was named to honour the great 19th century collector, Walter Lionel Rothschild.

 

Price: $79.95

Framed: 9.0" x 13.0", Oak

Name: Ornithoptera goliath, pair - supremus

Location: Papua New Guinea

 

The Goliath Supremus Birdwing butterfly is similar to the Goliath Atlas, with slightly larger females.

 

The villagers of Papua New Guinea farm these butterflies as a means of generating income, often by selling the specimens to foreign collectors.

 

Harvesting the butterflies is legal given that a permit is obtained. Butterfly farming allows the villagers to acquire income from the environment without destroying it, preventing damage to wild populations of an uncommon butterfly.

 

In his 1983 report to the Department of Primary Industries, Papua New Guinea, M.J. Parsons wrote that "Ironically it is now becoming an accepted fact that the very demand for Ornithoptera is one of the main assets which will ensure their future survival if they can be exploited in the correct way."

 

Price: $250.00

Framed: 10.5" x 15.5", Oak

Name: Ornithoptera goliath, pair - titan

Location: Papua New Guinea

 

The Goliath Titan Birdwing butterfly is another subspecies of the Ornithoptera Goliath species.

 

The larvae of the Ornithoptera goliath species feed specifically on a species of Aristolochia (Pipevines) which can be 20 or more metres high and so reaching into the canopy.  These vines are toxic to most animals except these larvae, thus making the larvae and future butterflies unpalatable to most predators.

 

The eggs, up to 20, are laid singly on small plants or severally on larger plants. The young larvae feed on new leaves, as they grow they feed on older leaves and finally on the bark of the stems which may be severed. The vine may be eaten down to the root. Pupation is on the underside of a leaf of a nearby shrub close to the host-plant remains.

 

Price: $250.00

Framed: 10.75" x 15.5", Oak

Name: Ornithoptera croesus, pair - lydius

Location: Halmahera

 

Wallace's Golden Birdwing is a species of birdwing butterfly found in northern Maluku in Indonesia.

 

Alfred Russel Wallace who described the species in 1859, recounts his capture of the butterfly in his book (The Malay Archipelago, 1869): "The beauty and brilliancy of this insect are indescribable, and none but a naturalist can understand the intense excitement I experienced when I at length captured it. On taking it out of my net and opening the glorious wings, my heart began to beat violently, the blood rushed to my head, and I felt much more like fainting than I have done when in apprehension of immediate death. I had a headache the rest of the day, so great was the excitement produced by what will appear to most people a very inadequate cause."

 

Price: $139.95

Framed: 9.5" x 14.0", Oak