MATING BUTTERFLIES.

This is my entry for Thursday's #colorfulphotography sponsored by @juliank

CAIRNS BIRDWING BUTTERFLIES:

The Cairns Birdwing Butterfly (Ornithoptera Euporion) is the largest of all Australian butterflies. They are found in north eastern areas of the country from Mackay to Cooktown. The males are characterized by their bold colours of green, gold and black, whereas the female is black and white with a little yellow and she is larger than her male counterpart with a wing span of up to 18 cms.

These butterflies thrive in rainforest areas and they mate as soon as they are hatched as their life span is only 4 to 5 weeks. The females seek out ideal vines using chemical receptors in their legs and abdomen which gives them the ability to sense tender, caterpillar friendly leaves. Newly hatched caterpillars consume their own egg shell for their nutritious qualities.

The bright colours of the caterpillars, act as a deterrent to 'would be' predators and they store toxins absorbed from pipe vines. This particular species was, at one time threatened due to wide scale clearance of native rainforest and the spread of exotic vines such as Dutchman's Pipe which happens to be lethal to the butterflies in their larval stage.