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Animal profile

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing

Ornithoptera alexandrae

InsectaLowland and hill rainforest on volcanic soilsEndangered

Field profile

The largest butterfly in the world by wingspan, restricted to a few hundred square kilometres of rainforest in Papua New Guinea. Females are brown and cream with a wingspan that can approach 25 centimetres; males are smaller and iridescent blue-green. Larvae feed on a single genus of pipevine.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2025-12-28

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing

The world's largest butterfly lives on one volcano's soils

Queen Alexandra's birdwing is confined to a small area of rainforest in Papua New Guinea, and a 1951 eruption of Mount Lamington destroyed a large part of it in a single event. Oil palm has since taken more.

Read with evidence →

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing | Daily Animal Facts