Ornithoptera goliath

Ornithoptera goliath is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in ??? by Oberthür. The wingspan is about 18 – 23 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. Ornithoptera goliath is black. It has green and golden areas on the wings. The females are brown and have some white spots. They are significant-larger than the males.

Photos for easy identification

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see some photos of Ornithoptera goliath supremus (male above / female below). Ornithoptera goliath is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE from Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia).

Description

The fore wings are black. The wing leading edge is green. In back side of wing there is a large, triangular, green area.
The underside of Ornithoptera goliath is yellow and greenish. The veins and the edge are black. At the outer edge there are some small, black spots.

The hind wings of Ornithoptera goliath are golden. The edge is black. Between the golden core of the wing and the black edge there is a thin green line. There are some green spots in the golden area.
The underside is a copy from upside, but the edge is green. The spots in the golden area are black.

The body (abdomen) is yellow. Head and thorax are black. The underside of thorax has a red hair-coat.

Sex differences: The female covers the upper range of the wing-span. It is significant-larger than the male. The basic colour of the female is dark-brown. At the outer edge there is a chain of white spots. At the wing leading edge there is a white spot, like an "E". On the hind wings there is a big yellow area. This yellow area covers a chain of dark-brown circles. The underside is a copy from upside, but all colours are stronger.

Distribution

Ornithoptera goliath is a butterfly from the Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia) ecozone. The distribution is restricted on New Guinea and other islands in the neighbourhood.

: This world map shows the ecozones in which this butterfly is distributed.

Larval food

Aristolochiaceae:

Aristolochia crassinervia

General information

The first description of this butterfly was in ??? by Oberthür. There are six subspecies.

Ornithoptera goliath atlas [Rothschild, 1908]
Ornithoptera goliath procus [Rothschild, 1914]
Ornithoptera goliath samson [Niepelt, 1913]
Ornithoptera goliath sorongensis [Morita & Sugiyama, 1998]
Ornithoptera goliath supremus [Röber, 1896]
Ornithoptera goliath ukihidei [Hanafusa, 1994]

Ornithoptera goliath is, like all other Birdwings a true miracle of nature. This butterfly is strictly protected. It is listed in the appendix II from CITES.

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer

Here you can see the subspecies Ornithoptera goliath samson (male left/ female right). The wingspan is about 12 - 16 cm.

Macro photos

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer macro photograph of Ornithoptera goliath supremus m (upside)

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer macro photograph of Ornithoptera goliath supremus m (upside)

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer macro photograph of Ornithoptera goliath supremus m (underside)

: Photo © by Naturhistorisches Museum Wien; Photographer Thomas Neubauer macro photograph of Ornithoptera goliath supremus f (underside)

Here you can see some macro photos of Ornithoptera goliath supremus.

Protection provisions / Red List

CITES: (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora):

-Appendix II- (as at 12.02.2008)
EU regulation on trading with species of wild Fauna and Flora:

-Appendix B- (as at 19.08.2005)
IUCN Red List of threatened species:

-no entry- (as at 2008)