Ornithoptera meridionalis

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Southern Tailed Birdwing
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Family: Papilionidae Subfamily: Papilioninae Tribe: Troidini Genus: Ornithoptera Species: O. meridionalis
Binomial name
Ornithoptera meridionalis Rothschild , 1897

Ornithoptera meridionalis is the smallest species of the genus Ornithoptera. It is known from a handfull of localities in southeast Papua, New Guinea (O. meridionalis meridionalis) and several localities along the south coast of Irian Jaya (O. meridionalis tarunggarensis).

It is strictly a lowland species, favouring primary rainforest. A very few specimens have also been collected at altitude in Irian Jaya by Jan Pasternak, however these specimens were reared from immature stages and emerged crippled (Deslisle, 2004), suggesting that high altitude forests are not favoured habitats. O. meridionalis has also recently been found in close promimity to its sister species, Ornithoptera paradisea, near Timika in Irian Jaya (Gotts, 2003). Host plants for this species are all vines of the genus Pararistolochia (Aristolochiaceae), including the species P. meridionalis in Papua New Guinea. Larvae typically ringbark the host before pupating on nearby plants.

O. meridionalis was first collected by Alfred Stanley Meek near Samarai, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The holotype is a female held in the British Museum (Natural History) collection. Meek was funded in his expeditions by the scientific author of this species, Lord Water Rothschild.

The specific ephiphet meridionalis means southern.

Males of meridionalis are remarkable in that they have an extremely small amount of wing area relative to its rather bulky body. In particular, the hindwings are very reduced and tetragonal in shape, tapering into a single pair of filamentous tails that are easily broken. Specimens of this sex are weak fliers and tend to spend most of the day resting. Females are more normally proportioned and have a flight characteristic more typical of the genus Ornithoptera. Both sexes have been recorded feeding at flowers in numbers early in the morning.

O. meridionalis is classified as Vulnerable in the ‘Red Data Book of Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World’ and is threatened by habitat loss (rainforest clearing), especially in parts of Papua New Guinea. For example, a well known locality at the Brown River has now been destroyed by logging. There are a few villages farming this species in Papua New Guinea. Most commercially available specimens are now sourced from Irian Jaya and are extremely valuable (prices may exceed US$1000 per pair). Collecting has a negligible effect on population sizes provided the original habitat is left undisturbed.