Goliath birdwing
The Goliath birdwing is the second biggest butterfly in the world. A big female's wings can be as wide as a dinner plate. Males shine black, green and gold, while females are dark brown with white spots and a yellow band.
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Fun facts
Only Queen Alexandra's birdwing is bigger.
The vine its caterpillars eat can climb 20 metres high into the treetops.
Villagers in New Guinea farm these butterflies and are allowed to sell them with a permit, which helps protect the forest.
A very unusual one, half male and half female, was once sold for 28,000 US dollars.
It flies slowly but strongly, high above the rainforest.
Most asked questions about Goliath birdwing
?What is the biggest butterfly in the world?
Queen Alexandra's birdwing. The Goliath birdwing is the second biggest.
?How big is the Goliath birdwing?
Females can have wings up to 28 centimetres across. Males reach about 17 centimetres.
?Where does the Goliath birdwing live?
In the rainforests of New Guinea and the small islands nearby.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ornithoptera goliath
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Papilionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Ornithoptera goliath (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Anaxibia. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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