Seeing a butterfly during a hard day
just may be the thing to make you feel at least a bit better. As one of
the nature’s most colorful and picturesque creatures, they’re bound to
capture your full attention for at least a moment.
But seeing this mega-butterfly would
more likely freak you out. Why? How about because of the one-foot (31
cm) wingspan it can reach.
It’s name is Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, widely known as the world’s biggest butterfly.
Beside the wingspan mentioned beforehand, it can also reach the 3.2
inches (8 cm) body length, as well as a 0.42 oz (12 g) mass.
Males are generally smaller, but can
still reach an impressive wingspan of 8 inches (20 cm). This Papua New
Guinea native is currently listed as endangered with destruction of oil
palm plantations being the biggest threat at the moment.
During the caterpillar phase, the
butterfly giant feeds off the venomous pipe vines of the Pararistolochia
genus, which turns them into poisonous predators once they’ve hatched.
