Amazing butterflies of the world. The rarest butterflies in the world

Butterflies are like flying flowers, which in their beauty cannot be compared with any insect on the planet. It is incredibly difficult to imagine how such a complex and unique beauty can be created from a vile caterpillar.

Many people collected butterflies famous people, such as Vladimir Nabokov, Ivan Pavlov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Nikolai Bukharin, Walter Rothschild. Vladimir Nabokov gave names to 20 newly identified species of butterflies. His collection consisted of 4324 thousand. He subsequently gave it to the zoological museum of the University of Lausanne.

Let's see together the most beautiful butterflies on our planet. This butterfly is a representative of the family Saturniidae (Peacock-eyes, or Saturnia):

The largest wingspan belongs to the Brazilian butterfly Agrippina - 30 cm.

The smallest wingspan encountered by researchers is that of Acetozea from England and Rediculosa from Canary Islands- 2 mm. Ornithoptella queen Alexandra is a rare butterfly species that is facing extinction in the near future. The female of this butterfly is slightly larger than the male. (The life of these insects lasts no more than 3 months).

Sailboat Maak - the largest day butterfly, living in Russia. It is also called poppytail and blue swallowtail. The name of this species is associated with naturalist Richard Karlovich, Maak, who for a long time studied Siberia and the Far East.

The largest moth Europe and Russia – Peacock-eye pear. Its wingspan reaches 15 cm.

This is the Madagascar comet, or, as it is also called, the Moon Moth. The largest butterfly on the planet, measured in length.

Peacock-eye Atlas, also called the prince of darkness. One of the largest butterflies in the world. The wingspan reaches 26 cm.

Urania Madagascar. The habitat of this butterfly, with a wingspan of 10 cm, is Madagascar.

Checkers player atalia.

Some butterflies live only a few days, but the monk butterfly can live 6 months. It can cover 1000 km without stopping.

Royal tail.

Butterflies are one of the most beautiful and amazing insects on earth. There are more than 250,000 varieties.

The beauty of these fluttering creatures has inspired more than one artist, sculptor, poet... Many are fascinated by collecting these amazing creatures.

We invite you to look at photographs of the most unusual and magnificent butterflies on our planet.

This is a fairly large species. The wingspan of this butterfly is 14-17 cm. In the photo you see a male. Depending on the viewing angle, the color of its wings changes from blue-green to purple.

This is one of the most common butterflies in Florida. She has quite long wings - up to 10 cm in span. The zebra butterfly loves shaded places, as its wings overheat in the sun. Due to the special liquid secreted, this insect is not suitable for consumption by birds.

This butterfly can be found in tropical regions. It is distinguished by its bright, unmatched coloration on its wings with distinct eyes. Peacock Pansy flies very quickly. Males and females are practically the same in color.

Look at the wings of this beauty shown in the photo. Two numbers are clearly visible on them. The habitat of this winged creature is quite wide: from Brazil, Bolivia and to Peru.

This butterfly is so called because of the huge flies on its wings that look like owl eyes. The habitat of these giants with a wingspan of more than 20 cm is the rainy forests of Mexico, South and Central America. Like owls, these butterflies mainly fly at night.

This butterfly with transparent wings is found in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. In addition to the wings, the tail of this insect, which combines green, blue and pink shades, also delights with its beauty. These butterflies spend most of their time under the leaves of plants, and fly out when the sun shines very brightly.

The butterfly was named after the son of Zeus. She has beautiful white wings, transparent at the top, with an unusual spotted pattern. This is a fairly large species. The wingspan is up to 9 cm. You can meet Apollo in Europe and Asia.

Look at this unusual butterfly with glass wings and brush-shaped legs. Its habitat is the territory from Mexico to Central America.

There are few green butterflies in nature. You can meet this winged insect in Southeast Asia. This butterfly is also called the Emerald Peacock.

Look at the photo. At first glance, I can’t even believe what’s shown here. living creature. Its folded wings bear a striking resemblance to a leaf that can be seen on the ground in autumn period. These butterflies may have wings of different shapes and colors. It can be found in the forests of Madagascar, India, New Guinea and South Asia.

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Imagine that there are 200,000 different butterflies in the world and 382 of them live in Australia. The Australian Butterfly Nursery in Kuranda is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. This one blue butterfly“Sailboat Ulysses” (Latin: Papilio (=Achillides) ulysses) is a diurnal species of the sailboat family (Papilionidae) that lives only two weeks. You can only see its color in flight. When resting or eating, the butterfly folds its wings. And the wingspan is up to 140 mm. Basically, the background of the wings of these butterflies is black, the male has large margins. In different subspecies, the color varies from bright blue to dark blue. lower wings with tails, slightly widened. Females are slightly lighter than males, with a brown tint. The lower ones have silvery-blue spots along the edge. Papilio Ulysses, or sailing ship Odysseus, a sailing ship marvelous in its beauty.

Blue Morpha

Life-size peacock-eye atlas. , Peacock-eye Caesar (wingspan up to 25 cm). No wonder that when people see her in flight, they mistake her for bat. The female and the males are very similar, the only difference is that the males have wide feathery mustaches, the females have very thin antennae.

And here is another amazing butterfly named Saturnia luna. It's hard to believe that she is alive, moving and still laying eggs. Let such a beauty multiply!

Caligo (Caligo Eurilochus) Size - 16-17 cm. Sometimes reaches 20 cm! Amazing butterfly, leads twilight image life, i.e. more active at sunset. Very impressive. Has a pattern on the lower wings big eyes, very similar to owls, or even resemble snake skin. as you understand, this is to scare away. But the wings themselves are velvety and graceful. The upper part of the wings is beige, bluish tones. The butterfly has a large body with large hairs. up to 16 cm, in some specimens up to 20 cm. They feed on very ripe bananas.






The moon butterfly - blue with polka dots - is slightly larger than our chocolate bowls.


Argema mittrei - Madagascar comet, also known as Moon moth.



MAAKA'S TAILBEARER or BLUE SWALLOWMAN, one of the largest day butterflies in Russia - MAAKA'S SWALLOWBOY (lat. Papilio maackii) with a wingspan of up to 13.5 cm. It lives in Primorye, in the middle Amur region, on, in North Korea. Distributed in mixed and deciduous forests. In search of food during the flowering of plants, they can climb mountains 2000 m above sea level. A significant part of the color of the butterflies has a green dotted coating, closer to the edges with an emerald-blue border. The hind wings have a wavy edge and long tails. females are slightly larger than males, their wingspan is up to 165 mm, in males up to 125 mm.












Birth of a miracle

Every year people find many living creatures whose existence no one even suspects. But even more animals and insects are today on the verge of extinction. This, unfortunately, also applies to butterflies - beautiful insects that flutter easily in the air. Certainly, rare butterflies are included in the Red Book and are protected by the state. But this does not always help preserve the population of fragile and vulnerable creatures.

Photo: pilt.delfi.ee

The graceful beauty, which has a black-brown color on top, seems unremarkable at first glance: the wings are dimly colored and have a standard shape, and there are no unusual patterns on them either. However, when the iris rises into the air, the impression changes dramatically.

It turns out that the lower part of the wings little creature has a special structure, and when the butterfly takes off, it seems to shimmer. It was for this pearlescent sheen that it received its second name - Overflow. But only males have this coloring. Much less elegant females rarely leave their habitat - tall trees, so it is almost impossible to see them.

Its habitat is the Primorsky Territory and the Middle Amur region. Sometimes you can find these insects in the areas of China and Korea adjacent to this area.

The iridescence is named after the Russian scientist Leopold Schrenck, who achieved great success in the study of zoology and geology. It is the only butterfly from the nymphalid family that can be found in Russia. Its “brothers” prefer hotter tropical forests.

Photo: myskinmd.info

The podalirium, which belongs to the sailfish family, really resembles a sedate ship that sails on the waves of the endless sea, only it has subjugated not the water, but air element. In fact, the number of podalirium individuals is quite large, but in lately the number began to decline rapidly, and in some regions of the world (Russia, Poland) butterflies became a protected species and were listed in the Red Book.

Podilaria is very easy to distinguish from other butterflies - it is white in color, with orange spots at the bottom of the wing. The shape is also quite remarkable: a feature of this species are the “tails” on the wings, which can be up to one and a half centimeters long.

Podilaria is often confused with another butterfly - the swallowtail. However, these insects belong to different subspecies. But some similarities do exist.

Photo: ceb.wikipedia.org

These butterflies are indeed true Europeans. They are found only in Italy. But even there they can be found only in Lucania, and not just anywhere, but near a lake that formed in the crater of a volcano. The fire-breathing mountain has long been extinguished, and the place, which was previously very dangerous, now serves as a haven for many living creatures.

Among them, European brahmea is especially exotic. These butterflies are direct descendants of species that lived on earth 50 million years ago. No one would have thought that they could be found in Europe, a part of the world that seemed to be completely explored.

But nevertheless, researcher Fred Hartig accomplished the almost impossible - he discovered the refuge of beautiful creatures, whose ancestors existed on the planet many years ago. Perhaps in some wild places there are still hidden creatures that have remained unchanged for many thousands of years?

Photo: medianauka.pl

Butterflies of this species are very easy to recognize by the skull pattern that appears on their chest. This fact, as well as the fact that the insect makes a loud, unpleasant sound when in danger, made people think that a harbinger of death was in front of them.

Of course, the Death's Head has nothing to do with the other world. It’s just that nature has awarded these insects with truly unusual colors. The sound serves as a warning of danger, and also helps to obtain food: the butterfly loves to feast on honey, and steals it straight from the hive. And the “singing” imitates the sound made by the queen bee. It is thanks to him that the bees do not touch the cunning insect.

Photo: inmagine.com

Apollo – beautiful view butterflies, which is on at the moment almost completely disappeared from the face of the earth. But nevertheless, various subspecies can, if you’re lucky, be found in the most unexpected places.

Apollo lives both in the snowy taiga and on windy mountain slopes. Each subspecies chooses its place of existence according to its preferences. However, every year the population decreases. There are quite a few reasons for this: deterioration environmental situation in general, and the disappearance of the plant that serves as the main source of food - sedum.

The peculiarities of Apollo's lifestyle also do not contribute to an increase in their numbers. Caterpillars eat only when the sun is shining; when the sun sets, the insects descend from the plants. But an adult butterfly flies poorly and quickly becomes prey to predators.

Preserving the population of these species should become one of the priorities of humanity. Otherwise, the world may lose another piece of its beauty.

That's all we have. We are very glad that you visited our website and spent a little time to gain new knowledge.

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Fluttering flowers - butterflies rightfully deserve this poetic name. Intricate patterns on the thinnest wings, pleasing to the eye combinations bright colors- nature in once again showed extraordinary design skills by creating such marvelous creatures.

The butterfly is one of the most mysterious creatures of nature. Such a wonderful transformation cannot be invented on purpose. From an unsightly larva emerges a real beauty with painted wings.

Today on globe there are about 165,000 species of butterflies.

The curious world has prepared for you material about giant butterflies, the size of which amazes the imagination.

1. Tizania Agrippina

Moth. The most big butterfly in the world lives in Brazil and Peru. It is an endangered insect. Its wingspan is 30.8 centimeters. It is also called scoop agrippina.

2. Queen Alexandra's Ornithoptera or Queen Alexandra's Birdwing

Day butterfly. She received her name in honor of the wife of the British King Edward VII. The wingspan is up to 31 cm with a body length of about 8 cm. Such a creature can weigh up to 12 grams. Giant butterfly found exclusively in the forests of the Oro province of Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, the species is on the verge of extinction.

3. Peacock-eye "Hercules"

A moth from a monotypic genus ( Coscinocera) in the peacock eye family. One of the largest butterflies in the world, and the largest in Australia; The wingspan of females can reach 27 cm.

4. Peacock eye “Atlas”

The butterfly received the name “atlas” from the ancient Greek mythical hero Atlas, or Atlas. He held on his shoulders firmament. Only a very large butterfly could receive this name. The wingspan of the atlas is up to 26 centimeters. Cultivated in India. Its caterpillars produce excellent silk.

5. Sailboat "Antimachus"

This is the largest diurnal butterfly in Africa. Wingspan up to 24 cm. This butterfly lives in humid tropical forests from the west coast of Sierra Leone to Uganda. Despite its extensive habitat, this species is not numerous. The butterfly is considered rare because it flies exclusively in virgin rain forests, which, due to mass felling are in danger of extinction. Unfortunately, it is very poisonous. Only three countries: Ghana, Ivory Coast and Zaire have taken measures to protect the antimach.

6. Birdwing “Goliath”

Large day butterfly of the Swallowtail family. The wingspan of males is up to 20 cm, females up to 22 cm. The color of males consists of 3 primary colors - green, yellow, black. The color of females is brown-brown, with light spots, the lower wings have a wide gray-yellow border.

It lives in the mountain tropical forests of the Moluccas archipelago, from Ssoram Island to Goodenow Island off the southeastern coast of New Guinea, at an altitude of up to 2300 m above sea level. There are currently 7 known subspecies of goliath.

7. Trogonoptera Trojan

A large daytime butterfly from the Swallowtail family. The specific name means “Trojan”, “originally from Troy”.

The wingspan is up to 19 cm. The female is slightly larger or the same size as the male. It lives only on the island of Palawan.

8. Ornithoptera cresus

Large day butterfly of the Swallowtail family. The species binomial name is given in honor of Croesus, the last king of Lydia in 560-546 BC. e. from the Mermnad family.

The wingspan is up to 19 cm. Males are characterized by an orange-yellow coloration of the wings, combined with black “inserts”. When illuminated from the side, the wings flash a greenish-yellow glow.

The discoverer of the butterfly, naturalist Alfred Wallace, recalled his first discovery of a male moose on the island of Bachai: “The beauty of this butterfly cannot be expressed in words and no one except a naturalist will understand the deep excitement that I experienced when I finally caught it. When I took her out of the net and spread her majestic wings, my heart began to beat, the blood rushed to my head, I was then closer to fainting than in those moments when I was in danger of death. All that day I had a headache: the excitement was so great...”

9. Saturnia Madagascar or Madagascar comet

This butterfly is also called the Moon moth - a luxurious night butterfly of the family peacock eye. It is one of the world record holders for wing size.

This nocturnal beauty can only be seen in Madagascar. This species is endangered, so in Madagascar these magnificent butterflies are successfully bred on special farms.

By giving the butterfly such a bright appearance, Mother Nature saved on life support systems: peacock butterflies do not have oral apparatus And digestive tract, so the Madagascar comet lives only 2-3 days due to reserves nutrients, accumulated by the caterpillar.

The wingspan is up to 18 cm. The wings are decorated unusually long tails sometimes reaching 20 cm. Tails often fall off after several flights.

The wings are bright yellow. Each wing has one large “eye” brown, with a black dot in the center. The tips of the wings have a brown-black spot.

10. Golden Birdwing or Troides

One of the largest diurnal butterflies in South Asia. Its wingspan is about 16 cm. Thanks to its size and flight style, it got its name - Birdwing. Indeed, the flight of Troides is more like the flight of a bird than the fluttering of a butterfly. Its golden-yellow, translucent and pearlescent hind wings shine like the Sun and fill the atmosphere with the energy of light and joy. And this energy is really noticeable when you hold this beautiful butterfly on your hand, because it is not without reason that among Asian peoples the Golden Birdwing is considered a symbol of financial well-being!

Butterfly Troides is pretty rare species and has long been listed in the Red Book. IN wildlife, in the homeland of the Troides butterfly (Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia) it is very difficult to see this golden-winged flyer, because Troides primarily live deep in tropical forests.

11. Peacock-eye Pear

This butterfly is also called the large night peacock eye, or Saturnia pear - a butterfly from the Peacock-eye family. The largest moth in terms of wingspan in Europe and Russia.

The wingspan is up to 15 cm. Females are larger than males. On the upper side of both pairs of wings there is one large eye with a black center and a brown rim around it. There is also a white border and a reddish ring around the eye. There is a light stripe along the edge of the wings, followed by a black stripe, closer to the base of the wing, interrupted only at the top of the front wings.

It is found in Southern and Central Europe, to the southwestern part of Russia, in the Caucasus, Asia Minor and in Iran, Crimea.

Landscapes with a large number shrubs and trees, forest edges, parks, gardens, fruit plantations.

12. Ornithoptera Chimera

The wingspan is up to 15 cm. This butterfly flies very well, making extraordinary turns in the air, gliding and diving in search of nectar. Pollinates hibiscus.

The ornithopter chimera is widespread on the islands of New Guinea and Java in tropical rainforests at an altitude of 1200-1800 m above sea level.

13. Maak's sailboat or Mak's tail carrier

A significant part of the black forewing of the male shimmers with a green dotted coating, which, closer to the edge, thickens into a sparse emerald-blue border. The area free from green coating shines with magical black silk: it is covered with the finest and most delicate fragrant black hairs - androconia. The hind wings with a wavy edge and long tails shine with an iridescent blue-green pattern.

The wingspan of the female reaches 13.5 cm.

The green dotted coating evenly covers the entire dark brown forewing of the female. The pattern of its hind wings is the same as that of the male, but its shine is muted, and in the marginal wavy border, along with green-blue, red-violet shades also appear. Females are much more variable than males. Among them it is difficult to find two identical butterflies.

This largest daytime butterfly in Russia surpasses many of its tropical relatives in its beauty. It's hard to believe that the range of this remarkable sailboat extends to 54° northern latitude, on which Tynda and northern Sakhalin are located. The Maaka tail-bearer lives in the Middle Amur region, Primorye, North Korea, Manchuria, Kuril Islands. In these places, butterflies are often found in broad-leaved and mixed forests, less often - in spruce-fir. They also fly into taiga villages. During the period when subalpine plants bloom, butterflies rise into the mountains up to 2000 m above sea level: looking for food, they fly around treeless peaks in a circle.

14. Urania Madagascar

The wingspan is 10.5 cm. This species of butterfly is characteristic only of Madagascar. Flies during the day and feeds on flower nectar. Butterflies can be seen all year round, their numbers especially increase from May to July. Her wings, despite the apparent lack of color at the tips, play with the various colors of the rainbow.