[3] Subgenus Ornithoptera Boisduval, 1832
This subgenus includes the following three species.
1) O. (O.) aesacus (Ney, 1903) (1 subspecies)
2) O. (O.) priamus (Linnaeus, 1758) (22 subspecies, 5 local forms)
3) O. (O.) croesus Wallace, 1859 (3 subspecies, 1 subspecies (?), 3 local forms)
O. (O.) aesacus and O. (O.) croesus occur only on Maluku (=Molucca) Islands, while O. (O.) priamus is widely distributed around New Guinea, west to Molucca Islands, east to Solomon Islands, and south to the east coast of Australia.
The characteristics of the subgenus Ornithoptera as follows:
- ♂: Rich color variations on wing-pattern according to the species and subspecies: golden green, golden blue and golden orange.
- ♂: The cell of the FW is not spatulate as in the two subgenera (Aetheoptera and Straatmana) mentioned above and the spaces between the 2nd and 5th are not narrowed but evenly spaced. The V9th emerges from in front of the common vein of 7th and 8th. The FW are triangular and the HW are rounded.
- ♂: On FW upper side, there are three iridescent bands – the radial band, the anal- submarginal band and the median stripe – and an elongate, narrow, and blackish brown sex-brand is present from the space 1b to the space 3.
- Red hairs are present on neck and lateral thorax, and the posterior margin of eye is fringed with white. The ♂ abdomen is bright yellow on both upper and under surfaces.