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Butterfly populations are a very good indicator of the health of an area's ecosystem !!

Also known as Cooktown Birdwings or Northern Birdwings

   The wingspan can be up to 15 cm (5.9 in) in females, and 12.5 cm (4.9 in) in males.
   As soon as adult butterflies hatch they mate quickly because they only live for 4 to 5 weeks.

Their favorite habitat is the rainforest. 
   There is a stunning and an uncommon hereditary mutation of the Cairns Birdwing butterfly, where a sole abnormal female butterfly will produce less than 40 unusual offspring.

   The female offspring will have a paler body in place of darker, and the male offspring will have the golden color body in place of green.

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Diet: caterpillars feed on leaves of food plants.
   * There are approximately 36 known species of Birdwing butterflies worldwide.
* All Birdwings are now listed by CITES, (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) thereby limiting  international trade.
Diet: adults feed on the flowers of food plants such as Hibiscus, Lantana and Bouganvillea
Avg. Body Length: max. 7.6 cm / 3 "
Wingspan: 12.5 - 15 cm  / 4.92 -  5.9 " Female lgr.

Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta, Order: Lepidoptera

Cairn's Birdwing Caterpillar
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The single biggest threat to butterfly survival is habitat destruction!!
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