Apr 20
image source
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Canada
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from China
seen from Canada
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Canada
seen from Indonesia
seen from Qatar
image source
Swallowtail Moth (Mania lunus), family Sematuridae, Nicuragua
photograph by Jaime Navarrete
Swallowtail moth from the other day that let me paint it. Releasing this moth was really interesting, I was a little worried where to put it in case it got nabbed by a bird. They're pretty big moths and canary yellow in colour after all. They stand out. What happened was though, it flew up in a tree and landed on the underside of a leaf. I took my eye off it for a second and it totally vanished - took me ages to spot it again. Their wings are actually slightly transparent so when the light shines through both them and the leaf the moth turns almost totally invisible. The lines on both wings resemble leaf veins and their ragged silhouette breaks up their outline even further. It was really impressive and a good lesson in how seeing an animal in the hand can be totally different to seeing it how it is in the wild.
Scoopwing moth, Phazaca decorata, Uraniidae
Found in Australia
Photo by dhfischer
Tropical swallowtail moth (Lyssa zampa)
Swallowtail Moth, Epiplema sp.? Uraniidae by Andreas Kay Via Flickr: from Ecuador: www.youtube.com/AndreasKay
@batcoins submitted: I was gifted this lovely (sadly expired) friend, possibly from Peru but was sold unlabeled at a show.
Looks like a green-banded urania, which is a swallowtail moth, not a butterfly! They're related to Madagascan sunset moths, which I think most bug fans recognize. And yes, their range includes Peru :) RIP, little friend...
Swallowtail moths in the family Uraniidae, Geometroidea
1. Urania Swallowtail by David Reed
2. Lyssa menoetius by wyattherp
3. Madagascan sunset moth by jnicolas
4. Epiplema fulvilinea by ivijayanand
5. Acropteris rectinervata by flyingswallow123
6. Green-banded urania by eduardoquispesalcedo
7. Strophidia caudata by gancw1
8. North Queensland day moth by paluma
9. Tropical swallowtail moth by jacky2
10. Europlema desistaria by ivijayanand