Ornithoptera Paradisea - Subspecies

Subspecies

• Ornithoptera paradisea paradisea Staudinger, 1893 Huon Peninsula to Astrolabe Bay in lowlands. This is the nominate subspecies and it is now extinct.
• Ornithoptera paradisea borchi (Haugum & Low, 1974) Occurs in the Central parts of the Northern Ranges: Torricelli and Alexander Mountains, and at Dreikir, East Sepik district, at altitudes from 1500 feet but mostly from 2000 to 3000 feet. the male abdomen has a simple median pattern, the dorsal fringes are snow white, the outer margin of hindwiing averaging and additional golden and iridescent green spots present with a larger frequency than in the nominate subspecies. Females have a modified wing-shape and pattern.
• Ornithoptera paradisea chrysanthemum (Kobayashi & Koiwaya, 1979)
• Ornithoptera paradisea demeter (So & Sato, 1998) Type locality Papua New Guinea, Southern Highlands Province, Lake Kutubu.
• Ornithoptera paradisea detanii Schäffler, 2001 Sudirman Range
• Ornithoptera paradisea flavescens Rothschild, 1897 Etna Bay, probably lowland. Based on a sole female specimen and the status is doubtful.Original description
• Ornithoptera paradisea arfakensis Joicey & Noakes, 1915 Arfak Mountains of the Vogelkop Peninsula, high altitude. A very distinct purely high-altitude subspecies, and the distribution is separated from that of the nominate subspecies.Considered a full species by some recent authors.

The 2004 revision by Gilles Delisle accepts three subspecies Troides paradisea paradisea, Troides paradisea chrysanthemum and Troides paradisea arfakensis Joicey & Noakes, 1915