Sexual dimorphism is the difference that is seen between the male and female specimen.
The females is typically large with brown colors and some cream-colored markings on it's wings.
The males on the other side display a vivid green-blue colors, and is a bit smaller than the females.
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| Upper side : Female Down side : Male |
This species was described by lord Walter Rothschild in 1907, who named it in honour of Queen Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII of the UK. The Manchester Museum’s specimens were collected by the famous collector Albert S. Meek from Papua New Guinea, commissioned to go there by Lord Rothschild. The photographed specimens are from the Longsdon Papilionidae collection received by the Manchester Museum in 1937-1938 by bequest of David Longsdon. Most probably, these specimens were purchased by Longsdon from one of the London natural history dealers, who obtained them from A.S. Meek.
It is one of the rarest butterfly in this world. It is one of the three insects listed in Appendix I of CITES, meaning that the trading of this butterfly is illegal.
Queen Alexandra's birdwing host plant is the pipevine plant. The female lays egg singly on a small plants or evenly on bigger plants.
Newly emerged larvae eat their own eggshells before feeding on fresh foliage. The larva is black with red tubercles and has a cream-colored band or saddle in the middle of its body.
They feed initially on fresh foliage of the hostplants and their own eggs, ultimately causing ringbark to the vine before pupating. Plants of the Aristolochiaceae family contain aristolochic acids in their leaves and stems. This is believed to be a potent vertebrate poison and is accumulated by larvae during their development. Making them poisonous.
The pupa is golden yellow or tan colored. This species usually undergones pupal period for about a month or more.
