Biggest Butterfly Species in the World

Butterfly was one of the most beautiful and elegant bugs in the world, no wonder if there's so many butterfly collectors in the world today, There are between 15,000 and 20,000 species of butterflies worldwide, On our previous article about the Largest bugs in the world we have listed one of the biggest butterfly species which is Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, but beside those species there's still so many big butterfly species in the world.

And below we'll listed some of the World's Biggest Butterfly, These winged-creatures are not just large they are also colorful and beautiful and they are among the most sought after species.

1. Queen Alexandra's Birdwing



Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing or Ornithoptera alexandrae is the world’s largest butterfly. It was named for Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII of UK. Female species are larger than males with wingspan than can reach 31 cm and a body length of 8 cm. it can attain a weight of up to 12 grams. This gigantic butterfly can only be in the forests of Oro Province in Papua New Guinea. This species is critically endangered.

2. Goliath Birdwing



This species was known as the second biggest butterfly in the world, It has a wingspan up to 28 centimetres (11 in) The males have black, yellow and green wings and a yellow and black body, while the females are brown and white on the top wings and yellow on the bottom wings. The female is typically larger than the male. Flight is leisurely, but controlled and powerful. Males pursue their females for long distances, rising high over the forest canopy then folding their wings and diving down to tree level to mate, even though they risk hindwing damage by the sharp tarsal claws of females. The Goliath Birdwing takes an approximate 15 minutes to emerge from its chrysalis because of its large wings

3. African Giant Swallowtail



This species of butterfly was also known as the most poisonous butterfly, it is almost as large as the Goliath Birdwing, this african giant swallowtail has a wingspan of 23 cm. It is scientifically named Papilio antimachus and is the largest butterfly in continental Africa. The female is smaller than the male. The butterfly has no natural enemies because it is very toxic, perhaps the most toxic of all butterflies.

4. Buru Opalescent Birdwing



Buru Opalescent Birdwing or Troides prattorum is another large butterfly. This butterfly is native to Indonesia in Southeast Asia. The wingspan is about 15 – 17 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. Troides prattorumis black. The hind wings are golden. It has an optical effect. At a diagonal point of view the golden hind wings will change their colour into blue or green. The females are dark-brown or black.

5. Palawan Birdwing



Palawan Birdwing or Trogonoptera trojana is a large butterfly native to Palawan in the Philippine. Palawan Birdwing has narrower green bands on the rearwings. The wingspan is approximately 18 centimetres (7.1 in). The butterfly flies the whole year. The larvae feed on Aristolochia foveolata.

6. Rippon's Birdwing



Rippon's Birdwing or known as Troides hypolitus is a birdwing butterfly endemic to the Moluccas and Sulawesi. It is not significantly threatened, but it is protected, This butterfly is a member of the family Papilionidae. Troides hypolitus is black. It has a chain of golden spots on the hind wings. The females are dark-brown and they are bigger than the males. The wingspan is about 180–200 mm. The forewings are black. Some veins are bordered by white colour. The underside are a copy from the upside. The hindwings are grey. The outer edge is black and it contains a chain of golden spots. The veins are black. The underside is a copy from upside, but the basic colour is white.

7. Chimaera Birdwing



Chimaera Birdwing or in the scientific names known as Ornithoptera chimaera is a birdwing butterfly of the papilionidae family. It is found in mountain areas of New Guinea and Java above 1000 metres. The wingspan is 80–180 mm for females and 70–150 mm for males.

8. Ornithoptera Croesus lydius



Ornithoptera Croesus lydius is a large butterfly that can only be found in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The price of a dead Ornithoptera Croesus lydius is worth $200. This rare birdwing lives in the forests of the swampy lowlands. It is the only orange member of the group and its magnificent color cannot be found anywhere else in the butterfly kingdom, The rich orange color on the males has made this a much sought after species. It ties with Chimaera Birdwing and two others as the 6th largest butterfly in the world. The wingspan of this butterfly was ranging from 5" to 5.5". this butterfly was comes originally in Solomon Island.

9. Magellan Birdwing



Magellan Birdwing or Troides magellanus is a butterfly from Australasia / Indomalaya ecozone (Australia). The first description was in 1862 by C. & R. Felder. The wingspan is about 16 – 18 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. Troides magellanus is black. The hind wings are golden. It has an optical effect. At a diagonal point of view the golden hind wings will change their colour into blue or green. The females are dark-brown or black and larger than the males.

10. Miranda Birdwing



The Miranda Birdwing (Troides miranda) is a birdwing butterfly that inhabits Borneo and Sumatra. The wingspan is about 15 – 17 cm. This butterfly is a member of the family PAPILIONIDAE. Troides miranda is black. The hind wings are golden. The females are brown or dark-brown and larger than the males.

Hope that the list of the World's Largest Butterfly species above could helps you. and if you want to be a butterfly collector make sure that you visit the butterfly website.

Thanks to : Wikipedia.com, Butterflycorner.net