Richmond birdwing
The Richmond birdwing is a big, beautiful butterfly from the rainforests of eastern Australia. Birdwings are named for their large wings, which make them look a bit like birds in flight. People all over its home have been planting special vines to help it survive.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It is the second smallest of all the birdwing butterflies.
Schoolchildren have helped it by planting its favourite vine in school grounds.
A foreign garden vine called calico flower tricks the mums into laying eggs on it, but the caterpillars die if they eat it.
Its food vines are thought to contain a poison that keeps hungry animals away.
Butterflies living high in the mountains often die in cold winters, and new ones fly up from the lowlands.
Most asked questions about Richmond birdwing
?What does the Richmond birdwing eat?
The butterfly drinks nectar. The caterpillars eat only a few native Australian pipevines.
?Why is the Richmond birdwing rare?
Much of its rainforest home has been cleared for houses and farms.
?How can people help the Richmond birdwing?
By planting its native food vine and never planting the harmful calico flower vine.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ornithoptera richmondia
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Papilionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Ornithoptera richmondia (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 Dr Don Sands, CSIRO. CC BY 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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