Wallace's golden birdwing
Ornithoptera croesus, the Wallace's golden birdwing, is a species of birdwing butterfly found in northern Maluku in Indonesia.
It is a member of the Ornithoptera priamus species group which, including croesus, is only found east of the Wallace Line. The larval food plants are species of the genus Pararistolochia. Matsuka (2001) illustrates the early stages (from N. Maluku; see also Igarashi, 1979).
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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starts withMale: The upperside wings are black and have a yellow costal band. There is a clearly visible long oval sex brand (of androconial scales) in the black area. The underside is black marked with lines of green chevrons. The upperside hindwings are yellow and the underside is green, yellow towards the costa. The veins are black and there is a submarginal row of black spots. The head and thorax are brown and the abdomen is yellow.
Female: typical of birdwing butterflies, Ornithoptera croesus is strongly sexually dimorphic. Females are larger than males and have brown wings marked with lines of yellow chevrons.
Ornithoptera croesus was formerly considered vulnerable by the IUCN, but its status was changed to Near Threatened in 2018. It is also listed in the Appendix II of CITES, restricting international trade to captive-raised specimens only.
