17 April 2007

Caught!

Queen Alexandra's Birdwings (Ornithoptera alexandrae)

A Japanese man has been sentenced in the US to nearly two years in a federal prison, after admitting to smuggling endangered butterflies into the country, and attempting to sell them. Among them was a pair of Queen Alexandra's Birdwings, which sold for $8,500.

These beautiful buterflies, are the largest in the world, with a wingspan of 30 cm.

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