Common birdwing
The common birdwing is a big, beautiful butterfly from Asia. Its front wings are black like velvet, and its back wings shine golden yellow like silk. It even has a little red collar behind its head.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
There are seventeen different kinds of it, living on many different islands and countries.
Collectors love it so much that it is protected in some countries, and trading it is controlled.
Hong Kong is the furthest north it lives.
The male has a soft, scented, cottony patch of hairs under the fold of his back wing.
Most asked questions about Common birdwing
?Where does the common birdwing live?
In forests of south and south-east Asia, from India to Indonesia and southern China.
?Is the common birdwing protected?
Yes, in places like Hong Kong and Indonesia, and its trade is controlled around the world.
?Where does the name helena come from?
It comes from Helen, a daughter of Zeus in old Greek stories.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Troides helena
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Papilionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
- Lives on
- Asia
Where the facts come from
- Troides helena (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by A.S.Kono. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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