Photo credit: Dr Don Sands, CSRIO (https://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/image/11322)

Once upon a time, the beautiful Richmond Birdwing Butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondia) was a common sight in Brisbane streets. Development and urbanisation has destroyed key habitat, caterpillars mistakenly feed on toxic introduced plant species, and as a result the Richmond Birdwing now only exists in small pockets of Northern NSW, Gold Coast, and Sunshine Coast.

There is one simple thing that South East Queensland gardeners can do to restore populations of the Richmond Birdwing: plant a Richmond Birdwind Butterfly Vine (Pararistolochia pravenosa).

These vines (along with one other species of vine) are the primary food source for the namesake Butterfly, and by planting one you help bridge the gaps between remnant populations.

I have been keeping an eye out for these vines for a while now, and recently saw them being sold at Redcliffe Garden Nursery. They are not as difficult to find online and there are some specialist nurseries out there that regularly stock them, but I hadn’t got around to making the drive out to these nurseries or ordering online.

Plant the vine in a shady moist spot with lots of humus in the soil on a support structure – keep in mind these are rainforest plants. I planted mine in a shady corner of my yard behind my Beehive Ginger, under some shade cloth (see pictures below).

Who knows, one day we may see these spectacular creatures back in the streets of Brisbane.