The Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is a truly beautiful butterfly. Listed as threatened by the Qld Government, this Birdwing Butterfly has a renowned presence in the Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW, Australia.

The Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is cited as one of the many outstanding evolutionary features of the World Heritage Listed Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves that occur in the Mt Warning Caldera Region.

This large green, black and yellow butterfly has inspired community action resulting  in many Pararistolochia praevenosa (see picture below) and P. layehana vines to be planted back into the region. There is still, however, much more work to be done. Although the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is dependent on these vines for its continued lifecycle, it will be the planting of biodiverse forests, woodlands and other vegetation communities, that will help it’s long term survival.

Increasing biodiversity helps the survival of many plants and animals, in their complex lifecycles, just as increased diverse  community involvement in  projects for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly has helped improve the Butterfly’s survival chances.

25th March 2009 – interview with Ray Seddon,  Co-ordinater of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Network, Qld.

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly : at the Queensland Museum PHOTO

Insects of Lamington National Park – Richmond Birdwing Butterfly PHOTO

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly  (Ornithoptera richmondia) : Queensland Threatened Species Listing – VULNERABLE.

• The 2009 link I had to the QLD EPA is now not working, as the Qld Government keeps changing their website links and departmental names and responsibilities : they have not kept a redirection to their new link for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly. However, you can now access information on the vulnerable listing and this butterfly HERE ( the Qld Department of Environment and Resource Management ) . The information on the new Qld Government  DERM webpage will give you the conservation status, habitat and distribution, description, threatening processes and actions.

Richmond Birdwing Recovery Network : lots of information here on the butterfly, it’s host plants, it’s life cycle, mapping, photos & community networking. This is a volunteer network based in QLD, Australia

The cultivation of Pararistolochia layehana from richmondbirdwing.org and much more on other Pararistolochia species –  Vines, Nurseries growing vines.

Please note that vines are covered by Qld legislation, and as such, you should be careful where you buy your vines from, lest they have been stolen from wild habitat areas.

Qld Society for Growing Australian Plants – native nurseries, plant information, local branches and more

Maroochy Birdwing Butterfly Project at the Maroochy Catchment Centre, Qld, Australia.

The Richmond Birdwing Project – photos, results, information – Qld.

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly vines (Parastolochia praevenosa and **P. laheyana)  : listed as RARE  ( Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006) under the  Qld Nature Conservation Act 1992 .  This rare status may change over the coming months, due to a reorganising of the threatened species listing categories . Pararistolochis praevenosa is the main vine being used in SE QLD and NE NSW for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly recovery

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Ornithoptera richmondia : Biodiversity Assessment NSW North Coast – species at risk, and their recovery process . This document recommends research, habitat retention through reserves, and records that there is little data known (Australian Government’s  Australian Natural Resource Atlas)

Australian National Botanic Gardens

Park and Fire Management Plans – NSW Government

Lismore City Council encourages planting of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly vine (Parastolochia praevenosa)

Case study 3: Adopting caterpillars – the Richmond Birdwing butterfly :This is  one of 13 case Studies of Community Involvement in Recovery and Threat Abatement at the NSW Department of Environment & Climate Change :  Community Involvement Guide for Threatened Species

“Australian Butterfly performs for World Media” -CSIRO media release Sept. 2000 – this article will give you a little history on the Richmnond Birdwing Butterfly and why is a THREATENED SPECIES

Ecos Article Jan. 2001 “Changing habitat: the revival of the Richmond birdwing butterfly offers hope that through research, education, dedication and teamwork, local communities can secure a future for threatened species.”

Land for Wildlife – Queensland

Land for Wildlife – New South Wales

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Part2 : Their Host Vines by Deborah Metters (Regional Land for Wild Life SEQ Catchments) April 2007 Newsletter Land for Wildlife SEQ.

Land for Wildlife at Greening Australia .

Land for Wildlife at SEQ Catchments .

Wildlife Preservation Society of Qld .

** Pararistolochia laheyana PHOTO – is this species the fomer Aristolochia deltantha var. layehana?

• I have seen one Richmond Birdwing Butterfly at Lower Beechmont, SE Qld, from memory back in about 2000, then another flying through Upper Burringbar, NE NSW, in 2009, and as an update to this article, in late September, 2010, I observed three Richmond Birdwing Butterflies flying high in the air at Upper Burringbar within the space of three days.  They really do look like small birds, at first, until you realise that the wings are going very slowly compared to a small bird flying, and on closer looking, you see the green and black of the wings. Each time that I have seen them flying, they have been about  10-20 feet up in the air, and at elevations over 750 feet above sea level.

• Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Project – search results   :  at Bluecray Regional Environmental News – Mt Warning Caldera

Pararistolochia praevenosa - drawing of a plant near the Lamington Plateau, SE QLD