Top 10 most amazing butterflies in the world

It is unlikely that anywhere in the world you can find as many beautiful creatures as butterflies. Since ancient times, these incredible insects have been considered symbols of beauty, eternity, youth and spiritual rebirth. These are real fresh flowers that regularly appear in various fairy tales, legends and epics.

What animal or bird can match the beauty of butterflies?

Their beauty was considered so unreal that the ancient Slavs had a belief that only the most evil and powerful sorceresses turned into butterflies, who sold their souls in order to have such beauty after death.

In many countries today there is a more practical attitude towards butterflies. For example, in the vastness of Asia, these insects are considered a special delicacy.

Why do butterflies have such patterns on their wings?

Fantastic patterns on the wings of butterflies are formed by a unique combination of multi-colored microscopic scales of each individual. Due to the special ribbed walls of these scales, sunlight is refracted, displaying on the wings in different colors and patterns.

Attractive patterns on the wings of butterflies make them the objects of close attention of collectors and entomologists.

Because of these features of these wonderful insects, they have become the most popular object for collecting.

To date, more than two hundred thousand different species of butterflies are known.

It is only necessary to add that the concepts of beauty are always subjective, and therefore the places here are randomly distributed - this is more a list than a rating. Be that as it may, we bring to your attention a description and photos of beautiful rare butterflies that you are unlikely to meet in everyday life.

10 most amazing butterflies in the world

1. Opens our list today Madagascar Urania.
   Ponytails, relatively large size and colorful coloring are a visiting card

   This amazing insect has a relatively large size: its wingspan often exceeds nine to ten centimeters. If you examine the wings of this unique butterfly under a microscope, you will see that each horny scale is unique: you will not find a single pair whose color is absolutely identical. A distinctive feature of the coloring of the wings of this creature is a special white edging - it is by this that Urania is most often identified. The fantastically bright colors of the butterfly serve as a formidable warning signal for animals higher up in the food chain. The body of the Madagascar Urania contains enough potent poison to kill a small bird.

   Urania are diurnal butterflies. At night, they gather in large numbers in one place and flock to camp for the night.

2. On the second line of our hit parade, we placed a beauty well-known and familiar to all residents of the CIS countries, which is the butterfly Admiral. Admiral is a butterfly, the beauty of which is often underestimated by residents of the countries of the Russian Federation due to the wide distribution of the butterfly in the CIS countries

   Every summer, hosts of admiral butterflies sweep through the airspace of the CIS countries. Probably, each of us has seen her, for many she has become a familiar symbol of summer. Because of this, it is difficult for many people to recognize her as one of the most beautiful butterflies in the world, but foreign connoisseurs of beauty unambiguously speak out in her favor. The unique black-white-orange coloration and annual wintering flights to warm African countries have made this butterfly widely known throughout the world.

   

3. Let's continue our list of the most beautiful butterflies in the world. And the next item in it will be the stunning Morpho Peleida. Morpha Peleida lives in almost all countries of Central and South America: in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Trinidad, Paraguay and Mexico

   Translated from the ancient Greek language, the words "Morpho Peleida" mean "magnificent beauty." It seems that once one of the entomologists was so impressed by the bright blue color of its wings, framed by a black and white frame interspersed with shades of red and orange, that he could not find a more appropriate name for this butterfly. Unfortunately, this magnificent beauty does not live very long: only two or three weeks. The bright coloration serves as a signaling tool during the mating season, and also repels birds and insects that eat it.

   A distinctive feature of this species is that the males of Morpho Peleida live separately from the females, in groups.

4. The Peacock eye is also recognized as one of the most beautiful representatives of the Lepidoptera order of the world. The Latin name of the butterfly comes from the name Īnachis - king Inach and his daughter Io in ancient Greek mythology

   The color scheme of the wings of this butterfly is somewhat reminiscent of the Admirals. Also similar is their lifespan, which often exceeds nine to ten months, and a relatively small wingspan of about five and a half centimeters. The main distinguishing feature of the Peacock's eye are the four color spots on the wings, which, with proper imagination, can pass for the eyes. An amazing defense mechanism that visually increases the size of this butterfly in the eyes of its natural enemies.

   For the winter, the Peacock eye is hammered into the cracks under the bark of trees, where it waits for the onset of the thaw season.

5. Among the inhabitants of our country, the Blue Swallowtail stands out with the unusual shape and coloring of its unique wings - or, as it is also called, Maak's Sailboat. Maak's sailboat was named after Richard Karlovich Maak, a Russian naturalist, explorer of Siberia and the Far East.

   This is an amazing insect with indescribably fantastic colors and large wings - their span reaches one hundred and twenty-five centimeters in males, and about ten centimeters more in females. On the territory of the CIS countries, this butterfly is considered the largest, while the main habitat of its habitat is the Sakhalin Peninsula. The wings of males are painted in a deep emerald green, the coloring of females varies greatly. Often these butterflies settle in flocks on the banks of small reservoirs or in open areas immediately after dew or rain. A frightened flock soars into the sky with stunning emerald fireworks.

6. In sixth place on our list of the most amazing and beautiful representatives of the Lepidoptera order, we placed an unusually long butterfly - the Madagascar Comet. Thanks to its two surprisingly large wings, the Madagascar Comet is often called the longest butterfly in the world - despite the fact that literally in the first days of its life, the tails fall off

   Connoisseurs of beauty are struck not so much by the bright color of this butterfly as by the shape of its body and wings. The wings of the beauty are continued by two tails almost twenty centimeters long, which serve as an auxiliary balancing tool when flying in the air. Unfortunately, after a fairly short time after the birth of a butterfly, these tails disappear as unnecessary. Due to the unusual structure of its body, the Madagascar Comet received its second name - the African moon moth. In addition to the shape of the wings, entomologists are also struck by their wingspan, reaching eighteen centimeters.

   

7. Approaching the end of the list, we tried to include in it more and more amazing representatives of the Lepidoptera order. Meet the real mountain butterfly - Glory of Bhutan. The sailboat "Glory of Bhutan" lives mainly in high mountain forests at altitudes up to 2800 meters above sea level and is currently endangered

   Even the most sophisticated connoisseur of butterflies will be amazed by the unique shape of its wings, which are vaguely reminiscent of dragonflies. Their span, sometimes, reaches ten centimeters. Each of the wings continues with three small ponytails, giving them a truly charming look. Fortunately, these butterflies are poisonous and therefore inedible. Potential eaters are warned by the bright red-orange coloration and round bright scarlet spots at the ends of the wings.

   In India, these insects are so revered that they are under strict state protection.

8. We open the top three finalists with a truly unusual creature, which at first glance can hardly even be called a butterfly. Meet Greta Oto, or the Glass Butterfly. This unusual insect is widespread in Mexico and Argentina. To the inexperienced eye of the inhabitants of the CIS, this butterfly looks more like a mosquito

   Fortunately for the inhabitants of South and Central America, this is not so: after all, the wingspan of this “mosquito” can exceed five centimeters - far from the smallest representative of the Lepidoptera order. It plays an extremely important role in the local ecosystem, as it pollinates most of the poisonous plants growing in the region. Transparent wings with a bright orange rim signal a huge amount of toxins accumulated in the body of a butterfly. The bird that ate it is unlikely to live long.

   This butterfly is a storehouse of natural toxins, deadly to the lives of those who dare to dine with it.

9. One of the most valuable specimens of the world's leading entomological museums is, of course, Queen Alexandra's Birdwing. Queen Alexandra's birdwing is the largest diurnal butterfly in the world.

   The main habitat of this amazing butterfly is the territory of Papua New Guinea. Birdwing males have brighter colors that help them attract females during the mating season. Often it is because of her that they become the object of close attention of entomologists and collectors. In turn, females are larger: their wingspan can reach thirty centimeters.

10. We decided to complete our short review of the most beautiful and amazing butterflies in the world with a truly unusual specimen. Many have heard of it, but few have seen it with their own eyes. This is the Prince of Darkness, or simply Atlas. Some individuals of this amazing species of butterflies reach truly gigantic sizes.

    In the Lepidoptera family, this butterfly is rightfully recognized as the largest. The largest of the officially registered representatives of this species had a wingspan of two hundred and sixty-two centimeters. Even by human standards, this is a real giant. The patterns on its wings are somewhat reminiscent of the head of a snake, due to which it was nicknamed by the same name in China. At the same time, the life expectancy of Atlas is only ten to eleven days.

    It is not known how many days the Atlas butterfly would have lived at home, since, due to its huge size, only specialized entomological centers are engaged in breeding them, but it is unlikely that Atlas could have been extended for a long time

    The short lifespan is due to the fact that the mouth of the Atlas caterpillar atrophies in the process of transformation: the butterfly exists only due to the nutrients that it managed to accumulate before pupation.

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