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Queen Alexandra's Birdwing

legendary

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing

Ornithoptera alexandrae

Habitat
Tropical rainforests of Oro Province, Papua New Guinea (single endemic population)
Wingspan
280 mm
Order
Lepidoptera · Papilionidae

Weird but real

The world's largest butterfly. Females can have a wingspan wider than a dinner plate — over 28 cm. So big that early collectors brought down specimens with shotguns.

Why it's cool

Endangered, glacially slow-flying, and structurally improbable. Looks more like a small bird gliding through the canopy than an insect.

Photographs

A dorsal image of a female Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly, Ornithoptera alexandrae.
Peter Wing · CC BY 4.0 · source
A dorsal photograph of the Queen Alexandra Birdwing Butterfly- Ornithoptera alexandrae Rothschild, 1907. A non-type male.
Peter Wing · CC BY 4.0 · source
A dorsal image of The Alexandra Birdwing Butterfly, Ornithoptera alexandrae, Rothschild, 1907. A non-type male.
Peter_Wing · CC BY 4.0 · source