Common Name: Goliath Birdwing
Scientific Name: Ornithoptera goliath
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionae
Genus: Ornithoptera
Species: O. goliath
The Goliath Birdwing can have a wingspan of up to 11 inches making it the second largest butterfly in the world. The males have a black body and black, yellow, and green wings. The female’s top wings are brown and white and the bottom wings are yellow. Both sexes are poisonous yet the females are considerably larger than the males.
When the Goliath Birdwing is a caterpillar it eats food which will make it poisonous when it grows into a butterfly. When in adulthood, they eat by extending they’re haustella into a flower’s head to suck nectar, the main source of food for them. Predators of the Goliath Birdwing are birds, spiders, reptiles, wasps, flies, and mites. But, since they are poisonous anything that eats it will become very sick, vomit, and will learn not to eat it again, this will save a lot of the other Birdwing’s.
The Goliath Birdwing lives in the forests of Papua New Guinea, Australia. It usually fly’s at the top of the trees. But, it can go up to 6,677 feet high. They can survive in this area because it is full of flowers that they can absorb nectar from.
The Goliath Birdwing is considered to be in an endangered state.
These butterflies became extinct due to collectors hunting for them then trading them for a high price. It is believed that during WWII soldiers would create complicated nets and would hunt for them. But to try to bring their population up, some people are farming them.
While doing this report, I learned a lot about butterfly’s I never knew. For example, I would’ve never guessed that soldiers in WWII would hunt for butterflies.
Author: Johnny Q
Published: 02/2010
Source list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath_Birdwing
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/lepi/images/other_lep_facts.pdf