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are amongst the largest species of Australian butterfly and they
are found only in the rainforests of northern Queensland. The
females lay their eggs exclusively on the leaves of a few species
of broad-leafed climbers because that is the only food the
caterpillars will eat.
Males and females are very
different in both colour and size. Males are the smaller
animals with a wingspan of about 10-12 cm and bright, metallic
green and black wings, while females have brown wings and a
wingspan of up to 15 cm. Like all butterflies the adults
feed on nectar from flowers through long, tubular
mouthparts. In the process of feeding the butterflies will
move around a lot and pollen from the flowers will fall on their
wings and body. When they move to the next flower the pollen
will be transferred and thus fertilise the plant.
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