Message on the topic of Alexandra Ornithoptera butterfly. The largest butterfly in South America

Butterflies are rightfully considered one of the most beautiful inhabitants of our planet. But the fluttering beauties of our country cannot be compared with the giant butterflies that live in southern countries. We offer you to see what the largest representatives of the Lepidoptera order look like and where they live.

Tizania Agrippina

This moth called Thysania agrippina (lat. Thysania agrippina), or scoop agrippina, lives in the territory of humid tropical forests South and Central America. The largest of known to science representatives of this species were caught in Brazil, and its wingspan reached 29.8 centimeters.

Tizania Agrippina

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, male

A butterfly called Queen Alexandra's birdwing, or Queen Alexandra's ornithopter (lat. Ornithoptera alexandrae) is the largest day butterfly in the world. These butterflies live only on the island New Guinea and, unfortunately, are so rare that they are even listed in the International Red Book as an endangered species. The wingspan of this butterfly reaches 27 centimeters, and males and females differ significantly in the color and shape of their wings.

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing: male above, female below

Peacock-eye hercules

Peacock-eye Hercules, male

The Hercules peacock-eye, or Coscinocera hercules (lat. Coscinocera hercules), is also a nocturnal butterfly and lives in Australia and Papua New Guinea. The wingspan of this beauty reaches 26-27 centimeters, and the caterpillars grow up to 10 centimeters in length. In this species, females and males also have different colors and wing shapes.

Peacock eye atlas

Another giant butterfly from the peacock-eye family is the atlas peacock-eye (lat. Attacus atlas). They live in tropical and sub tropical forests Southeast Asia, and their wingspan reaches 24 centimeters. It is noteworthy that adult butterflies do not feed and live off nutrients, accumulated by the caterpillar. Females and males differ somewhat from each other in the color and shape of their wings.

Sailboat antimah

This bright leopard-colored butterfly is native to equatorial and tropical regions of Africa and is the continent's largest butterfly. The sailboat antimachus (lat. Papilio antimachus) has a wingspan of up to 23-25 centimeters and is active during the daytime.

Ornithoptera goliath

Ornithoptera goliath: male above, female below

Ornithoptera goliath, or bird-winged goliath (lat. Ornithoptera goliath), measures up to 20-22 centimeters and lives on the islands of Southeast Asia. Due to their island distribution, several subspecies are distinguished among them, which differ in nuances of color.

Troides Hippolytus

Troides hippolytus: male above, female below

Females of the species Troides hypolitus (lat. Troides hypolitus) are larger than males, and their wingspan reaches 20 centimeters. These butterflies live in the forests of Sulawesi and the Maluku Islands.

Trogonoptera trojan

Trogonoptera trojana, male

Another beauty that ranks 8th on our list of giants is Trogonoptera trojana. Very rare butterfly, which lives only on the island of Palawan (Philippines). The wingspan of this species reaches 17-19 centimeters. Males are smaller in size, but their color is brighter.

Ornithoptera cresus

Ornithoptera Croesus, male

Very bright day butterfly with a contrasting orange and black color, it lives in Indonesia and the islands of the Moluccas archipelago. Ornithoptera croesus (lat. Ornithoptera croesus) has a wingspan of 16-19 centimeters, while females are larger than males.

Madagascar comet

A very original, brightly colored night butterfly that lives exclusively in wet forests Madagascar. The Madagascar comet (lat. Argema mittrei) is so named for unusual shape lower wings. The wingspan of this beauty, whose image appears on the Madagascar 5,000 Malagasy franc banknote, reaches 14-18 centimeters.

Birdwing is a rare and stunningly beautiful butterfly. It is the only one of its kind among lepidopteran insects.

She is also called Queen Alexandra or Ornithoptera Alexandra. Translated into Greek, it means “bird wing”.

The butterfly received this name for a reason: due to its very large size, from a distance, it is very similar to a bird. Ornithopteras are classified as members of the sailboat family, and their number reaches 800 species.

The Queen Ornithoptera was nicknamed because of its distinctive larger size among individuals of the entire sail family. And the name was given to her in honor of the wife of the British King Edward VII. This butterfly is rightly called a real pearl of the tropical forests.

For the first time such a butterfly was caught by accident, in New Guinea. It was a male. The size of his wings was as much as 20 centimeters! And their unusual shape, reminiscent of tropical leaves and stunning, unimaginable coloring amazed the imagination. According to scientists, this male was classified as a completely new species of ornithopter. It became necessary to find a mate for him, especially since the females are much larger than the males. The size of the wings of an adult female sometimes reaches 28 centimeters! However, their coloring is less bright than that of males.

The first lucky person in search of a female in 1906 was A.S. Mick. To expand his collection of insect studies, he wandered into the central part of New Guinea - this is the only place where birdwings live. While resting at a rest stop, Mick accidentally noticed a huge insect in the air, at the very tops of the trees. Having fired, he hit him directly and the insect fell right at the scientist’s feet. This was the same Queen Alexandra female that he had been looking for for so long. It was a rich dark brown color, and the size of the wings was as much as 28 cm.

Many collectors dream of getting a huge butterfly and are actively hunting for it. But this is almost impossible to do, since it lives and feeds on the nectar of flowers growing at very high altitudes. The flowers are called aristochilia and bloom high on tree branches.

On at the moment, hunting for huge butterflies is strictly prohibited, as they are under protection due to the severe reduction in their numbers. This was a consequence of the eruption of the Lamington volcano in 1951. Over 260 square meters were lost. km of birdwing habitat.

PETLYAKOV ROMAN GOU SCHOOL NO. 163 CITY MOSCOW.2 CLASS.

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PETLYAKOV ROMAN MAKSIMOVICH.

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Research work on the topic:

"Unusual insects."

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing.

In his research work I want to talk about an unusual insect, the Queen Alexandra Ornithoptera butterfly (Ornithoptera alexandrae). Using the example of the history of these photographs, I want to outline interesting facts about this insect. The uniqueness of this species lies in its size, beauty, habitat and significance for flora and fauna.

For many years Bernard d'Abrera photographed rare and unusual tropical butterflies for books and magazines. His albums of photographs of butterflies have become a valuable tool for scientists. In search of insects renowned for their rare beauty or enormous size, the photographer traveled to his native Australia, the countries of South Asia, New Guinea and filmed, photographed, photographed everywhere...

In the richest collection of photographs of d'Abrera, one photograph was missing largest butterfly Queen Alexandra's Ornithopter World.

Going to the wilds of New Guinea, R "Abrera did not count too much on success. He knew that this butterfly was very rare, careful, that no one had ever been able to photograph it in nature. The photographer went through in his memory everything he had heard or read about its extraordinary nature .

Ornitaptera translated from ancient Greek means “bird wing”. Queen Alexandra's Birdwing or Queen Alexandra's Ornithoptera is the largest diurnal butterfly in the world and belongs to the swallowtail family. Females of Alexandra's birdwing are larger than males, the span of their rounded wings reaches 28 cm. The length of the abdomen is 8 cm, weight - up to 12 grams. The color of the wings and abdomen is dark brown with white, cream and yellow ornaments. Males are smaller than females, their wingspan is up to 20 cm. Males are very different in appearance from females, their wings are narrower, colored blue and green colors. The butterfly development cycle lasts four months. The adult lives for three months. The caterpillars grow up to 12 cm in length and 3 cm in thickness. There are many in the tropics different types these unusual butterflies, and all of them are distinguished by their impressive sizes: 15 - 18 centimeters in wingspan. For this they were called birdwings. But one day, in the jungles of New Guinea, one specimen of a new species of Ornithoptera, still unknown to scientists, was accidentally caught. The new species was given the name Alexandra, in honor of the beautiful Queen of England, wife of King Edward VII of Great Britain. Indeed, this butterfly looked like a queen among bird wings - its wingspan reached 20 centimeters. The only specimen that fell into the hands of scientists turned out to be a male. But it is known that Ornithopter males are always much smaller than females. What kind of giant of the insect world must the female of this hitherto unseen butterfly be? They looked for her, climbed into the very depths of the jungle, asked local residents - and all to no avail.

Years passed. In 1906, insect collector A.S. Mick, a determined and cold-blooded man, wandered around New Guinea. In those years, few travelers dared to visit this uncharted land. Mick climbed into the very heart of New Guinea, where no European had ever set foot. One day he was sitting by a tent near a small river, putting in order the insects he had collected during the day, and suddenly he accidentally looked up. High, high in the gap between the peaks giant trees some bird flashed by. No, not a bird - an insect of unprecedented size. It was not for nothing that Mick was considered a decisive man: he quickly loaded the gun with the smallest shot, fired, and a huge butterfly, almost intact, fell at his feet. 28 centimeters in wingspan. Mick immediately realized that the butterfly he had shot was a hitherto unknown female of the legendary Ornithoptera Alexandra.

Over the years, scientific expeditions increasingly visited the New Guinea jungle. Gradually, it was possible to collect information about the habitats of the queen butterfly. It turned out that Alexander's birdwing settles only in a few gorges along the rivers in the east of New Guinea, and even there it is never found in large numbers. Flowers called aristolochia, on the nectar of which it feeds, bloom high in the treetops, and the butterfly has no reason to descend, so it is very difficult to catch it.

Then scientists enlisted the help of local residents - the Papuans, and soon the most famous museums were enriched with specimens of the world's largest species of butterflies. If only there were museums! Queen Alexandra became interested in people who thought a pile of hundred dollar bills was much more beautiful than any of the most beautiful creatures of nature. Buying butterflies from the Papuans for pennies, they resold them for hundreds and thousands of pounds sterling to wealthy collectors of rarities. The living jewel appeared at auctions and in the shops of curiosities dealers in the cities of Europe, America, and Japan. In order not to waste energy on a dizzying hunt for butterflies, poachers have become adept at collecting pupae and caterpillars ready for pupation and hatching butterflies from them for sale. And what did they care that nature was about to lose one of its best decorations, that soon the greatest and to the most beautiful butterfly will the world resemble only museum specimens faded with time?

The authorities took the Queen Alexandra birdwing under protection; the capture and export of giant butterflies was strictly prohibited. But the few surviving individuals were threatened with a new disaster - the destruction of forests. The eruption of Mount Lamington in 1951 destroyed about 250 square kilometers. km natural environment habitat of this species of butterflies, which is the main reason for their rare distribution. Alexandra caterpillars feed on the leaves of only one type of plant. This plant makes the eggs that this butterfly lays poisonous. The caterpillars that subsequently appear have a chance to avoid the fate of being eaten, since they have a very unpleasant taste for birds and many other predators.

The famous entomologist Richard Carver hastened to the aid of the queen of butterflies. WITH the greatest work having collected small quantity caterpillars and pupae, he delivered them to the most remote corners of the island, inaccessible to either lumberjacks, unceremonious tourists, or poachers - butterfly hunters. Of course, Aristolochia, a common food for caterpillars, grows in abundance in these parts. Where are these protected places How to get there is the secret of New Guinean zoologists.

All this was well known to Bernard d'Abrera, so he did not believe too much in luck. He did not believe too much, but did not lose hope. D'Abrera managed to find Aristolochia. Carefully examining each leaf, he spent a long time looking for caterpillars familiar from the descriptions and drawings, but they were nowhere to be found. Of course, there were no butterflies.

Then the photographer began asking local residents. But they either knew nothing about the bird-wing Alexander, or remained silent with a mysterious look. But the photographer felt that some of them knew something. He swore that he did not need Queen Alexandra herself, but a photograph of her, that he was a friend of nature and would keep secret where the butterfly lived, he asked, assured, insisted, convinced. And he convinced.

One morning, just before dawn, an unusual procession pulled into the forest: a photographer hung with equipment and his new friends. Shirts were wet from sweat, millions of mosquitoes and mosquitoes crawled into our eyes, ears, nostrils, got tangled in our hair, and monstrous three-centimeter ants fell from the leaves and bit painfully. And all this torment for the sake of Alexandra’s birdwing! When their strength was running out, D'Abrera's companions stopped. And at the same moment the photographer saw a velvety-black caterpillar looking like a small snake on an Aristolochia leaf. One, two, three... Then the pupae of Queen Alexandra began to come across. D'Abrera diligently photographed caterpillars and pupae. His experienced eye immediately noticed that one of the pupae looked as if a butterfly was about to emerge from it. But dusk was gathering. Because of the rabid mosquitoes and mosquitoes, it was impossible to spend the night in the jungle, so D'Abrera and his companions decided to come here tomorrow.

The next morning, making his way through the thicket, D'Abrera no longer paid attention to mosquitoes or evil ants. He imagined how he would capture on film the birth of the greatest butterfly in the world.

This is the treasured place. We were late: the chrysalis is empty. But no. Not far away, proudly spreading her mighty black-blue wings with snow-white spots, sat the newly born queen of butterflies. Click and rare photo done. The giant wings of Queen Alexandra trembled, the antennae moved - and the butterfly rose into the air. She flew slowly and majestically, as befits a queen. As if wanting to capture the imagination of people, Alexandra’s birdwing described a solemn circle in the air above their heads, then sharply soared up and disappeared. Silently, D'Abrera and his friends watched her with admiration. D'Abrera knew that there was nothing to dream about a portrait of the king, males are much less common than females, they are shy and live especially secretively.

He returned to Port Moresby to fly home to Australia. The photographer had little time left and decided to take a walk along the suburban highway.

Bougainvillea trees planted along the roadside, covered in deep pink flowers, separated the highway from the coffee plantations. As usual, bright butterflies swarmed around the flowers. And suddenly d'Abrera noticed an unusually large one among them. The photographer's hands reached out to the camera. But the mysterious butterfly was circling too high, at the very top of a twelve-meter tree.

Suddenly, some other butterfly, the most ordinary one, stunned by the heat, or perhaps intoxicated by flower nectar, for no apparent reason rushed towards the mysterious stranger and danced around him. He clearly didn't like this familiarity. He glided down steeply and landed on bougainvillea flowers very close to the photographer. Under the weight of the giant, the branch strewn with flowers trembled and sank low.

Yes, it was the king of butterflies. His golden-green wings, lined with black lines, sparkled like ancient brocade. D" Abrera was filming feverishly.

What else can you add? Photos of Queen Alexandra's Birdwing appeared in print. Now everyone can admire them. It’s not for nothing that D’Abrera’s photographs are called famous photographs centuries. It won't be long before anyone else gets the chance to photograph this. living miracle. After all, Abrek kept his word to his friends: having described in detail the meeting with the queen, the place where this meeting took place, and the way to it, the photographer kept it a secret.

In conclusion of this work, I would like to note that this type classified as endangered, listed as Lepidoptera, the export, re-export and import of which is regulated in accordance with the Convention on International Trade in Species wild fauna and endangered flora. Also, due to a sharp decline in the number of butterflies of this species due to deforestation, the species Ornithoptera alexandrae was included in the list of animals prohibited from catching. Thus, this species of butterfly is recognized as unique and endangered. It is necessary to preserve the natural pristineness of our planet and protect the beauty of the surrounding world!

Figure 1. Queen Alexandra's Birdwing habitat.

Figure 2. Female and male.

3. Queen Alexandra's birdwing pupa.

Figure 5. Papuan and Queen Alexandra's birdwing.

Figure 6. Queen Alexandra's Birdwing.

Figure 7. Queen Alexandra's Birdwing.

List of used literature.

1.L. V. Kaabak, A. V. Sochivko Butterflies of the world / G. Wilczek. - Moscow: Avanta+, 2003. - P. 86. - 184 p. - (The most beautiful and famous). - 10,000 copies. -

2.V. Landman Butterflies. Illustrated encyclopedia / scientific. reviewer Divakova S.V. - Moscow: Labyrinth Press, 2002. - P. 71. - 272 p. - (Illustrated Encyclopedia).

3. Ornithoptera alexandrae: information on the Red Book website.

Butterflies are one of the largest orders of the insect class. There are about 140 thousand species. They are found in almost every part of the world and many of them have unusual colors. Among them there are both “giants” and “dwarfs”. It’s the first ones we’ll talk about today.

I propose to get acquainted with the five largest butterflies in the world. During the selection, 2 main criteria were taken into account: wingspan and wing area.

“Seeing a giant African swallowtail in flight, your emotions are equal parts awe and sadness.”

Then, finally, the meeting we came to. Having reached the forest, we saw the monster take off from the bushes and lazily glide along the air currents, circling. He shared airspace with some famous killers butterflies - swallows and black bees - but this specimen didn't seem to mind. Sometimes he would dive down and chase the swallows, startling them with both his size and color, before grabbing another puff of air and returning to his perch. Its wing edges covered in scars, this giant African swallowtail was clearly a veteran of the forest.

First place goes to South American tropical cutworm or Tizania Agrippina(Thysania agrippina). This moth from the moth family is the largest in the world. The wingspan of the largest specimen, caught in Brazil in 1934, was 30.8 cm. In 1997, in the northern part of Peru, another butterfly of the same species with almost the same parameters was found.

Male swallowtail (Papilio antimachus) Published by Author

Here in Russia, we are accustomed to the fact that butterflies are relatively small in size. Catching a worthy specimen with a wingspan of 6-7 centimeters is already a great success. Meanwhile, far beyond the borders of our homeland live huge lepidopterans that barely fit in the palm of your hand! It is about them that our conversation today will go.

The fresnels are attached to the hindwing so that the wings can work in unison during flight.

Butterflies have a frenulum, which is a device for connecting the wings.
Butterflies do not have frenulums.

Butterflies are diurnal, flying during the day. Moths are usually nocturnal, flying at night. However, there are moths that are diurnal, such as the butterfly, and there are butterflies that are crepuscular, meaning they fly at dawn and dusk.

Peacock-eye hercules

Another representative of the peacock eye is Coscinocera hercules. This is a nocturnal butterfly, which is also on the list of one of the largest in the world. Distributed exclusively in the tropical forests of Australia, it leads night image life. Its wingspan can reach 27 centimeters, and its wing area reaches 260 square centimeters - in this parameter it simply has no equal.

It feeds on plants, the list of which includes shrubs such as willow, lilac and late bird cherry.

Sailboat Maak

Sometimes this butterfly is called the Maak's tailtail or the blue swallowtail - it belongs to the Swallowtail family. Unlike our previous specimens, its wingspan is not so surprising - about 14 centimeters. But Maaka is the largest butterfly on the territory of the Russian Federation. It was named after the naturalist Richard Karlovich Maak.

This species has a very beautiful coloration. The wings of males have a dark green tint with black margins, the lower part is lighter. But the color of females can be different - the wings are either brown or black, with pronounced red spots along the edges.

Blue swallowtail common up to 54° northern latitude. If we talk about our country, the butterfly can be found in Primorye, Amur region, on the island of Kunashir and on Southern Sakhalin, and even in Vladivostok in the summer. Often found in Asia, particularly Japan, China and Korea. Maak's flight begins in mid-May and ends in mid-September. It is interesting that the females keep separately, and they can be found in the crowns of trees, in the second half of summer - near flowers. Males prefer to form clusters of several dozen specimens and stay in damp areas.

The caterpillar has a protection system. If it is disturbed, a special gland appears at the end of its body in the form of two small horns, which secretes a foul-smelling liquid. In this way the caterpillar protects itself from enemies.

In the photo you can see that the butterfly looks simply amazing.

Pear peacock eye

Belongs to the Peacock-eye family. Today this is the largest moth that can be found in Europe and Russia. The wingspan of most individuals barely reaches 70 millimeters, but there are specimens with a wingspan of up to 15.5 cm! Of course, it is almost impossible to see them in nature.

The wings have clearly visible eyes with a brown rim and a black center, there are four of them in total. There is a gray stripe along the edge. The butterfly is found in the southwestern part of Russia, in Central and Southern Europe, in Iran, Asia, Crimea and the Caucasus. It prefers to live in places where there are many trees and shrubs, that is, in forest belts and parks. Flight time is from May to June. As we already mentioned, the pear peacock eye is nocturnal, but scientists have found that males can fly during the daytime. By the way, they also have unusual ability- females are able to smell pheromones at a distance of up to 10-12 kilometers, after which they fly to her.

The caterpillars are large and have a green tint. There are rows of many greenish warts on the body. Before pupation, the body color changes to yellow-red. The caterpillar feeds on the leaves of fruit trees, including apple, cherry, pear, and so on.

Currently, the pear peacock eye is included in the Red Book of Ukraine, since the number of this species is very small.

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing.
Kingdom: animals (Animalia).
Phylum: arthropods (Arthropoda).
Class: insects (Insecta).
Order: Lepidoptera (Lepidoptera).
Family: sailboats (Papilionidae).
Genus: ornithoptera (Ornithoptera).
Species: Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae).
Translated from ancient Greek, “ornithoptera” means “bird wing”. The butterfly received its name in 1907 thanks to Lord Walter Rothschild. He named it in honor of Edward VII's wife Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India.
Habitats
Currently, the species lives in a strictly limited range in the southeast of Papua New Guinea. It is found at an altitude of 155 m above sea level in coastal lowland forests and small gorges along the rivers of Oro Province near the Popondetta Valley. The butterfly prefers to spend most of its life in the crowns and tops of trees, occasionally descending to the ground. Previously, the birdwing was found even in the mountains - in the northern part of the Owen-Stanley Range. It was there in January 1906, at an altitude of about 1,700 m above sea level, that Albert Stuart Meek, assistant to banker and entomologist Walter Rothschild, first caught a female of this species.
Appearance
Queen Alexandra's birdwing, or ornithoptera, is the largest daytime butterfly on earth. Sexual dimorphism is extremely pronounced - sometimes it is difficult to believe that a female and a male belong to the same species. The females are large: with a body length of 8 cm, the span of their rounded wings reaches 28 cm. The wings and abdomen are colored dark brown with white, cream or yellow splashes. The underside of the wings has an original pattern with contrasting wide shading along the veins - this is what makes it possible to distinguish the female of this species from other ornithopteran species. The weight of the butterfly can reach 12 g. Males are smaller than females. Their wings, with the finest shades of blue and green, are lined with black lines. Similar to antique brocade and narrower than other ornithopteras, they resemble the petals of an exotic tropical flower. The span reaches 17–20 cm.
Lifestyle and biology
The butterfly development cycle lasts four months. An adult lives no more than three months. Throughout their lives, females lay 27 bright blue eggs, from which caterpillars then hatch. They have a velvety black color and a longitudinal cream stripe, reaching 12 cm in length. They feed first on the shell of their own egg, and then on leaves. various types Aristolochia vines (Aristolochia spp.), which contain poisonous acids that are fatal to vertebrates. By accumulating these substances, the caterpillar acquires a taste that is unpleasant for birds and many other predators, which allows it to protect itself. The butterfly pupa is golden yellow or reddish brown with black spots. Its length is 9 cm, thickness is about 3 cm. From the egg stage to the formation of the pupa, it takes about six weeks; the transformation of the pupa into an adult takes about a month or even more. An adult butterfly usually appears at dawn, when the air humidity is even higher. Before the sun will rise high and will become much hotter and drier, the insect has time to fully spread its wings. Adults feed mainly on large flowers, such as hibiscus. They fly well and are most active early in the morning or at dusk.
Listed in the Red Book
Previously, Queen Alexandra's birdwing lived in almost the entire eastern part of the island of New Guinea. The reason for the rare distribution of the species was a sharp reduction in its natural habitat. In 1951, the eruption of Mount Lamington destroyed about 250 km2 of the main habitat of this amazing butterfly, which significantly affected its population. The cutting down of tropical rainforests to create oil palm plantations has also had a negative impact.
Papua New Guinea's wildlife conservation law in the 1970s prevented the insect's extinction but failed to stop poaching. Due to its great rarity, Queen Alexandra's Birdwing is still highly prized by collectors and fetches considerable money on the black market.