Synonyms

Papilio richmondia, Ornithoptera priamus richmondia, Triodes priamus richmondius, Triodes richmondia

Notes

This species has been in a serious decline, owing to the destruction of its habitat and especially its foodplants, which are Pararistolochia vines. Fortunately there are some people dedicated to saving this butterfly, and I was luckily enough to meet some of them and so to get some photos. Most of the photos I have of adults, and all the photos of pupae, were taken of specimens being reared by the Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network, as they were to be released into the wild. At Beerwah I did see wild birdwings, and though the adults were not deigning to pose for my camera I was able to get shots of an ova and a caterpillar.

I would recommend that anyone in the Brisbane area who is interested in butterflies should contact the Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network at www.richmondbirdwing.org.au

Sightings

Beerwah, Brisbane – November 2008.

Links

• The Butterflies of Australia, Their Identification, Biology and Distribution by Michael F. Braby
• Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network
• Australian Faunal Directory
• Atlas of Living Australia
• Don Herbison-Evans’ Butterflies of Australia
• Bob’s Butterflies by Bob Miller
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility
• Wikipedia
• Butterflies and Other Invertebrates
• Queensland Government – Featured threatened species project
• Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland
• Eco Education Service
• The threatened Richmond birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondia [Gray]): a community conservation project
• Noosa Landcare
• Captive Breeding the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Ornithoptera richmondia