Ornithoptera allotei

Ornithoptera allotei
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Tribe:	Troidini
Genus:	Ornithoptera
Species:	O. victoriae x O. priamus urvillianus
Synonyms
Ornithoptera allotei

What was originally described as Ornithoptera allotei is a birdwing butterfly that is a natural hybrid between Ornithoptera victoriae and Ornithoptera priamus urvillianus. The hybrid is known from Bougainville Island and Malaita Island.

The only other known natural birdwing hybrid is Ornithoptera rothschildi x Ornithoptera priamus poseidon.

History

O. allotei was described by Rothschild in 1914 as a species, despite the assertion by its discoverer, Abbé Allotte, a priest at the Buin Mission, Bougainville Island, that it was a natural hybrid.

It was originally placed in the genus Troides. The female was described by H.M Peebles and W. Schmassmann in 1917.

Schmid (1970), McAlpine (1970) and Haugum & Low (1978) all held the hybrid theory but the final proof of O. allotei being a natural hybrid was made by Ramón Straatman (Jan Haugum in 'Papilio International' (1990)).

External links

• Images

Natural Hybrids
O. rothschildi x O. priamus poseidon • O. victoriae x O. priamus urvillianus