Ornithoptera Priamus - Variation

Variation

Ornithoptera priamus is a variable species. There have been as many as 99 subspecies described (most of which are synonyms of O. priamus poseidon), with many more named variants and forms described for both sexes.

As in other species of the genus Ornithoptera, the females are larger and less vividly coloured than the males, them being mainly blackish or dark brown with patterns in pale brown, yellow or white. Nonetheless, females are extremely variable, and they may have colour patterns similar to females of other Ornithoptera species.

In males, iridescent areas of the wing are typically green, although some subspecies endemic to island groups east of New Guinea have blue males. These subspecies are O. priamus urvilleanus (New Ireland, Bougainville, and Solomon Islands), O. priamus miokensis (Mioko Island), and O. priamus caelestis (Louisiade Archipelago).

However, it is likely that O. priamus miokensis is actually a hybrid between O. priamus urvillenaus and O. priamus bornemanni from the neighbouring islands of New Britain and Bougainville. Specimens of this subspecies are variable, and can be identical to specimens of either parent, or intermediates. Immigration may also explain its rarity, as Mioko is a small island and, as of 2001, its hostplants had been reduced to a few Aristolochia tagala vines growing in a local village.