Funny story... I came about today's Daily Doodle question because I thought to myself, "I've been doing a lot of neutral paintings lately, lets get some color up in here!" Wah-Wah... let me introduce you to the world's largest known butterfly... the neutral colored, female Queen Alexandra Birdwing.
Now, don't get me wrong, she's pretty, and has a wingspan of over 11", so that's freakin' cool! But, her counterpart, the male Queen Alexandra Birdwing, is black with neon green, teal and shimmering blue... but he's smaller, with a wingspan of only 9"...
The species was discovered in Papua New Guinea and made its way to what is now the Natural History Museum at Tring in the year 1907. Collector Albert Stewart Meek wrote to naturalist Lord Rothschild (founder of the museum), about the discovery of the butterfly in the wild. Meek would later collect larvae in order to ensure a perfectly preserved specimen for display.
I can only imagine what an 11" butterfly would look like in the wild! Though the likelihood of seeing one in the wild would be difficult as the species is now on the endangered list and is considered a rare and protected species.
