Graphium weiskei blue black purple green butterfly Papua New Guinea

Description

Approximate size of specimen:

2 inch wingspan

Interesting Facts about Graphium weiskei:

Graphium weiskei, native to Papua New Guinea, was named after the famous German entomologist and ornithologist Emil Weiske, who traveled the world to procure specimens for his private museum in the late 1800s.

Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies that inhabit every continent in the world except for Antarctica. Most are tropical species and there are over 550 different species included in this group.

We have several species of swallowtail here in the United States, and many states have adopted swallowtails as their state butterfly. Papilio machaon oregonius in Oregon, Papilio glaucus in Virginia, Georgia, Delaware, and South Carolina, and Papilio polyxenes in Oklahoma.

Swallowtails have tails on the end of their hindwings, which help them escape predators in the wild. In the hopes that a bird will grab onto their tail, which they don’t need in order to fly, instead of some other part of their wing or body which are more critical for survival, the butterfly has a chance to get away unharmed. The bird “swallows the tail” instead of the butterfly, hence the name “swallowtail”.