Ornithoptera tithonus
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| Tithonus Birdwing | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Ornithoptera tithonus De Haan , 1841 |
The Tithonus Birdwing 'Ornithoptera tithonus' is a birdwing butterfly.
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[edit] General information
Ornithoptera tithonus is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in 1841 by de Haan. The wingspan is about 14 – 20 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. Ornithoptera tithonus is black. It has green and golden areas on the wings. The females are dark-brown and have some white spots. They are significant-larger than the males. There are six subspecies.
Ornithoptera tithonus cytherea [Kobayashi & Koiwaya, 1980] Ornithoptera tithonus dominici [Schäffler, 2001] Ornithoptera tithonus makikoae [Morita, 1998] Ornithoptera tithonus misoolana [Deslisle, 1985] Ornithoptera tithonus misresiana [Joicey & Noakes, 1916] Ornithoptera tithonus waigeuensis [Rothschild, 1897] Ornithoptera tithonus is, like all other Birdwings a true miracle of nature. This butterfly is strictly protected. It is listed in the appendix II from CITES.
[edit] Description
The fore wings are black. At the wing tip there is a green stripe and one golden spot. In the middle of the wing there is a large, green band. The rear edge is green. The underside of Ornithoptera tithonus is black. At the outer edge and in the middle of the wing there is green area. The veins are black and they cleave the green areas. The golden spot at the wing tip is tansparent like a window.
The hind wings of Ornithoptera tithonus are multicoloured. The inner part of the wing and the edge are black. The other part of the wing is green. The green area contains some golden spots and three black spots. The underside is green. Some golden spots and some black spots are on the wing. The inner edge is very hairy.
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 and in the middle of the wing there are some white spots. On the hind wings there is a big white area. The outer edge of the white area is yellow. Between the white part and the yellow part there is a chain of black spots. The underside is a copy from upside, but all colours are stronger.
[edit] Distribution
Ornithoptera tithonus is a butterfly from the Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia) ecozone. The distribution is restricted on Irian and other islands in the neighbourhood.
