Hey yawl it’s me again! This week I’m going to be talking about the Queen Alexandra Birdwing butterfly. This is an extremely beautiful butterfly as well as the world’s largest butterfly. It’s known to be bigger than most birds that are found in the rainforest! How awesome is that?! Well i hope the information is enjoyable about this amazing butterfly!!!
The wingspan of this butterfly can be up to 12 inches across, which is usually only said for the females. Go Girls! The females are always bigger than the males but always more dull in color. The females are usually dark with off white or yellow markings, while the eye catching males are mainly a pale blue, lavender, or yellow on black. The caterpillars of this butterfly eat a plant that is known to be toxic to humans and many other animals. After ingesting the plant the caterpillars become toxic to their predators. It takes the Alexandra up to four months to complete the four stages of its life. As an adult it can live up to three more months.
They are found in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea. They spend all of their adult lives in that canopy of the rainforest. It is rare to see them near the ground of the rainforest. The population of this butterfly used to be in the thousands but because the clearing of rainforests is increasing for human living, farming, and the need for more oil pal, rubber, and cocoa plantations it has declined to only a few left existing. Because of the butterfly’s great size it is sought out by many collectors. The capture and mounting of these butterflies has also affected its numbers. We can only hope that something is put in effect, that works, to help save these amazingly beautiful and rare butterflies. 
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