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PAPUA NEW GUINEA .
Butterflies and Flora.

This section covers some species of butterfly , some orchid varieties and other plants found in this country. On the right is the country's emblem - a Bird of Paradise.

There are 500 varieties of butterfly in Papua New Guinea and many varieties live in the peace of the rainforest. On the left here, is the Orchid Swallowtail. This is a medium sized black and white butterfly, and is closely related to birdwings variety. Not always seen in the rainforest, these are found in the open around the forest edge. At night they sleep with open wings, choosing a projecting twig with 2 or 3 leaves. They sleep with body vertical, head up, and wings held perfectly flat, out to each side of the body.

The Map Butterfly (on left) sips water from stones in a creek. These butterflies are named for the line patterns on their wings similar to those on a map, and are mainly found in PNG. They sleep under live leaf, body horizontal, wings drooped. In the daytime, butterflies flit through the forest searching for food and a place to lay eggs, now and then pausing to rest. At night, they sleep, each in its favourite position.

Here on the right is an adult Queen Victoria birdwing, measuring 125 mm from wing tip to wing tip. This specimen of birdwing is mostly found on Bougainville in Papua New Guinea and is quite common. A specimen in the British Museum clearly shows holes in the wings caused by pellets when a naturalist brought it down with a hot from his gun.

The OWL butterfly family occurs mainly in the Indo-Australian region. This species lives in the lowland and mid-mountain rainforest, always in dimly lit area and most frequent in swamp The caterpillars are hairy and gregarious, both unusual characteristics for most species of butterfly.

The GRASS YELLOW Butterfly is found through-out New Guinea from the western Papuan islands to the Solomons. It is not common. The male is always golden, and the female varies from white through yellow to smudgy grey on the upper surface, always with borad black margins to the wings.

Papua New Guinea has some wonderful orchids in the forests, jungles, and chilly mountain areas. It would seem that this area of the world could have the largest number of orchid species of any country in the world.
Some have been collected from coral reefs at sea-level, and at 4,000 metres up in the mountain ranges where dripping mist enshrouds the determined collector of such plants.

On left here we have the white "Phalaenopsis amabilis" which grows in the lowland regions of Papua New Guinea.
Also pictured is "Spathoglottis spp" a common orchid from a species whose colours vary from white to deep purple.

The group of 3 orchids in right hand picture include "Denbrobium musciferum" (white one on left of the 3), which is common in lowland forests up to 1000 metres. The centre picture is "Bulbophyllum macranthum, a spectacular orchid found on moss-covered branches in rain forests. On the right, the waxlike flowers of the "Vanda hindsii" are about 50 mm across.

On the left here is another picture of the "Vandi hindsii" found in hill forests and lowland rain forests.

On the right is "Bulbophyllum halianum which flowers all year round. Gardens have been set up in various places of Papua New Guinea to keep, preserve, and cultivate most varieites found in the country

The Sepik Gem (left) "Dendrobium lasianthera" orchid is one of the Sepik Blue group and will play a prominent role in PNG's small but growing orchid export industry.

The Flame Orchid shows the flat hand-like appearance of many of the mountain dwelling orchids.
Brilliant orange, advertising itself strongly on a tree-fern in the alpine grassland above the moss forest, this plant was photographed at 3500 metres above sea level.

A lot of orchid work was done in 1970's by Andree Millar, OBE, who at the time was the Director of the National Capital Botanical Gardens. Many safari trips were done into the high mountains collecting orchids.

Macgregor's Rhododendron is a common and wide ranging species, found mainly in mid-mountain forests and moss forest. COlour varies from dull golden through pink . There are 157 varieties of Rhododendron and all but 2 are found nowhere else but in Papua New Guinea.

Flame of the Forest is an apt name for the bright flowers of a lowland rainforest climber. From the air brilliant splashes of red advertise these plants, which climb hundreds of feet into the canopy with a g round stem as thick as a man's leg. Red, green, white, and yellow flowering forms have been found.

Freycinettia, a climbing member of the pandanus group of plants, found in the area of PNG's 1st orchid safari camp in the mountains above Wabag, in Enga Province.

PNG is rich with plant life, covering many many species.