| Ornithoptera allotei | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Tribe: | Troidini |
| Genus: | Ornithoptera |
| Species: | O. victoriae x O. priamus urvillianus |
| Synonyms | |
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What was originally described as Ornithoptera allotei is a birdwing butterfly that is a natural hybrid between Ornithoptera victoriae and Ornithoptera priamus urvillianus. The hybrid is known from Bougainville Island and Malaita Island.
The only other known natural birdwing hybrid is Ornithoptera rothschildi x Ornithoptera priamus poseidon.
O. allotei was described by Rothschild in 1914 as a species, despite the assertion by its discoverer, Abbé Allotte, a priest at the Buin Mission, Bougainville Island, that it was a natural hybrid.
It was originally placed in the genus Troides. The female was described by H.M Peebles and W. Schmassmann in 1917.
Schmid (1970), McAlpine (1970) and Haugum & Low (1978) all held the hybrid theory but the final proof of O. allotei being a natural hybrid was made by Ramón Straatman (Jan Haugum in 'Papilio International' (1990)).