Seeing a butterfly during a hard day just may be the thing to make you feel at least a bit better. As one of the nature’s most colorful and picturesque creatures, they’re bound to capture your full attention for at least a moment.
But seeing this mega-butterfly would more likely freak you out. Why? How about because of the one-foot (31 cm) wingspan it can reach.
It’s name is Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, widely known as the world’s biggest butterfly. Beside the wingspan mentioned beforehand, it can also reach the 3.2 inches (8 cm) body length, as well as a 0.42 oz (12 g) mass.
Males are generally smaller, but can still reach an impressive wingspan of 8 inches (20 cm). This Papua New Guinea native is currently listed as endangered with destruction of oil palm plantations being the biggest threat at the moment.
During the caterpillar phase, the butterfly giant feeds off the venomous pipe vines of the Pararistolochia genus, which turns them into poisonous predators once they’ve hatched.