Ornithoptera meridionalis
Ornithoptera meridionalis is a butterfly from the Australasia / Indomalaya (Australia) ecozone. The distribution is restricted on New Guinea and other islands in the neighbourhood. The first description was in 1897 by Rothschild. The wingspan is about 12 – 14 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. Ornithoptera meridionalis is black. It has green and golden areas on the wings. The hind wings have thin tails. The females are dark-brown and have some white and yellow spots. They are significant-larger than the males.
The specific ephiphet meridionalis, means southern. It is strictly a lowland species, favouring primary rainforest. A very few specimens have also been collected at altitude in Irian Jaya by Jan Pasternak, however these specimens were reared from immature stages and emerged crippled (Deslisle, 2004), suggesting that high altitude forests are not favoured habitats. O. meridionalis has also recently been found in close promimity to its sister species, Ornithoptera paradisea, near Timika in Irian Jaya (Gotts, 2003). Host plants for this species are all vines of the genus Pararistolochia (Aristolochiaceae), including the species P. meridionalis in Papua New Guinea. Larvae typically ringbark the host before pupating on nearby plants.
The specific ephiphet meridionalis, means southern. It is strictly a lowland species, favouring primary rainforest. A very few specimens have also been collected at altitude in Irian Jaya by Jan Pasternak, however these specimens were reared from immature stages and emerged crippled (Deslisle, 2004), suggesting that high altitude forests are not favoured habitats. O. meridionalis has also recently been found in close promimity to its sister species, Ornithoptera paradisea, near Timika in Irian Jaya (Gotts, 2003). Host plants for this species are all vines of the genus Pararistolochia (Aristolochiaceae), including the species P. meridionalis in Papua New Guinea. Larvae typically ringbark the host before pupating on nearby plants.