high around trees rarely descending to the ground. Females fly below the canopy searching for the food plant which is a species of Aristolochia with orange fruits. The male emits a pleasant scent from the fringe of white hairs along the anal vein of the hindwing. The egg is 4 mm. in diameter and light orange. Eggs are laid singly and are attached to the ventral surface of an Aristolochia leaf or a nearby object. The first instar larva is dark red wine colour. Instars 2-5 are velvet black and bear red tubercles with long black tips. The pupa is brown with a bright yellow and orange saddlemark. It has a waxy coating and two short, sharp spurs on abdominal segments 3-6. The eggs are parasitised by species of Chalcidoidea and the larvae are parasitised by Braconidae. Ants, lizards and birds eat the larvae and pupae and in monsoon the larvae suffer 30% mortality. The paradise birdwing is closely related to Ornithoptera meridionalis. 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) — 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 hindwing 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 Conservation Supported by World Association of Zoos and Aquariums who claim that Papua