Ornithoptera meridionalis

Southern Tailed Birdwing
Female, upperside.
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Ornithoptera
Species:	O. meridionalis
Binomial name
Ornithoptera meridionalis Rothschild , 1897

Ornithoptera meridionalis is the smallest species of the genus Ornithoptera. It is known from a handful of localities in southeast Papua, New Guinea (O. meridionalis meridionalis) and several localities along the south coast of Irian Jaya (O. meridionalis tarunggarensis).

O. meridionalis was first collected by Albert Stewart Meek near Samarai, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The holotype is a female held in the British Museum (Natural History) collection. Meek was funded in his expeditions by the scientific author of this species, Lord Walter Rothschild.

Distribution and habitat

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.

O. meridionalis is classified as Vulnerable in the ‘Red Data Book of Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World’ and is threatened by habitat loss (rainforest clearing), especially in parts of Papua New Guinea. For example, a well known locality at the Brown River has now been destroyed by logging. There are a few villages farming this species in Papua New Guinea. Most commercially available specimens are now sourced from Irian Jaya and are extremely valuable (prices may exceed US$1000 per pair). Collecting has a negligible effect on population sizes provided the original habitat is left undisturbed.

The specific ephiphet meridionalis means southern.

Description

Males of O. meridionalis are remarkable in that they have an extremely small amount of wing area relative to its rather bulky body. In particular, the hindwings are very reduced and tetragonal in shape, tapering into a single pair of filamentous tails that are easily broken. Specimens of this sex are weak fliers and tend to spend most of the day resting. Females are more normally proportioned and have a flight characteristic more typical of the genus Ornithoptera. Both sexes have been recorded feeding at flowers in numbers early in the morning.

Male of Ornithoptera meridionalis

References

• Deslisle, G. (2004) A taxonomic revision of the “birdwing butterflies of paradise”, genus Ornithoptera based on the adult morphology (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae). Lambillionea, 104 (4): 1 - 151.
• Haugum, J. & Low, A. M. 1978-1979 "A Monograph of the Birdwing Butterflies". Vol. 1 The genus Ornithoptera. Scandinavian Science Press Ltd.
• Matsuka, H. (2001) Natural History of the Birdwing Butterflies.Matsuka Shappan, Japan.
• Parsons, M. J. (1998) The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea: Their Systematics and Biology.Academic Press, London.
• The World of Birdwing Butterflies

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