Brimstone Butterfly

Gonepteryx rhamni (known as the Common Brimstone) is a butterfly of the Pieridae family. It lives in Europe, North Africa and Asia; across much of its range, it is the only species of its genus, and is therefore simply known locally as the brimstone. On the upper side the male is sulphur yellow and the female white with a greenish tinge but both have an orange spot in the centre of each wing. They never settle with their wings open and from the underside the sexes are more difficult to separate but the female is still paler. Their wing shape is unique among British butterflies (although there are similar, closely related species in southern and eastern Europe) and is designed to act as camouflage while they rest and during hibernation.

Buckeye Butterfly

The Common Buckeye or simply Buckeye (Junonia coenia) is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia and all parts of the United States except the northwest, and is especially common in the south, the California coast, and throughout Central America and Colombia. The sub-species Junonia coenia bergi is endemic to the island of Bermuda.

Peacock Butterfly

The European Peacock (Inachis io), more commonly known simply as the Peacock butterfly, is a colourful butterfly, found in Europe and temperate Asia as far east as Japan. Classified as the only member of the genus Inachis (the name is derived from Greek mythology, meaning Io, the daughter of Inachus). It should not be confused or classified with the “American peacocks” in the genus Anartia; these are not close relatives of the Eurasian species. The Peacock butterfly is resident in much of its range, often wintering in buildings or trees. It therefore often appears quite early in spring. The Peacock butterfly has figured in research where the role of eye-spots as anti-predator mechanism has been investigated.[1]

Blue Morpho

The Menelaus Blue Morpho (Morpho menelaus) is an iridescent tropical butterfly of Central and South America. It has a wing span of 15 cm (5.9 in). The adult drinks juice from rotten fruit with its long proboscis, which is like a sucking tube. The adult males have brighter colours than the females.

The larvae eat plants at night. Known larval foodplants are Erythroxylum pulchrum and Machaerium. The larvae are red-brown in colour with bright patches of lime-green or yellow. The larvae are also highly cannibalistic.

MalaChite Butterfly

The Malachite (Siproeta stelenes) is a neotropical brush-footed butterfly (family Nymphalidae). The malachite has large wings that are black and brilliant green or yellow-green on the uppersides and light brown and olive green on the undersides. It is named for the mineral malachite, which is similar in color to the bright green on the butterfly’s wings. The wingspread is typically between 8.5 and 10 cm (3.3 and 3.9 in). The malachite is found throughout Central and northern South America, where it is one of the most common butterfly species. Its distribution extends as far north as southern Texas and the tip of Florida, to Cuba, as subspecies S. s. insularis (Holland, 1916), and south to Brazil.

Clipper Butterfly

The Clipper (Parthenos sylvia) is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South and South-East Asia, mostly in forested areas. The Clipper is a fast flying butterfly and has a habit of flying with its wings flapping stiffly between the horizontal position and a few degrees below the horizontal. It may glide between spurts of flapping.

Madagascan Sunset Moth

The Madagascan sunset moth (Chrysiridia rhipheus) is a day-flying moth of the family Uraniidae. It is considered one of the most impressive and appealing-looking lepidopterans.[10] Famous worldwide, it is featured in most coffee table books on Lepidoptera and is much sought after by collectors.[11][12] It is very colourful, though the iridescent parts of the wings do not have pigment; rather the colours originate from optical interference.[7][13] Adults have a wingspan of 7–9 cm (2.8–3.5 in).

Sesia Bembeciformis

The Lunar Hornet Moth (Sesia bembeciformis) is a moth of the family Sesiidae. It is found in Europe. Often confused with the hornet moth,

Emperor Moth

The Saturniinae or saturniines (Emperor Moth) are a subfamily of the Family Saturniidae. These are medium to very large-sized moths, with adult wingspans ranging from 7.5 to 15 cm, in some cases even more.

Hyalophora cecropia

The Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia) or (Robin moth) is North America’s largest native moth. It is a member of the Saturniidae family, or giant silk moths. Females with a wingspan of 160 mm or more have been documented. It is found as far west as the Rocky Mountains and north into the maritime provinces of Canada. The larvae of these moths are most commonly found on Maple trees, but they have been known to feed on Wild Cherry and Birch trees among many others.

Antheraea Polyphemus

The Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) is a North American member of the family Saturniidae, the giant silk moths.[1] It is a tan colored moth, with an average wingspan of 15 cm (6 inches). The most notable feature of the moth is its large, purplish eyespots on its two hindwings. The eye spots are where it gets its name – from the Greek myth of the Cyclops Polyphemus. The caterpillar of the Polyphemus Moth can eat 86,000 times its weight at emergence in a little less than two months.

Large Emerald

The Large Emerald, (Geometra papilionaria), is a moth, the type specimen for the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East.

This is a large and attractive species, as the specific name suggests very butterfly like, with a wingspan of 50-65 mm. Newly emerged adults are bright green with darker green and white fascia, though the green colouration fades after a few days. It flies at night from June to August [1] and is attracted to light.

Owl Moth

Aka Brahmaea wallichii is a moth from the Brahmaeidae family, the brahmin moths. It is found in the north of India, Myanmar, China, Taiwan and Japan.

The Apollo

The beautiful Apollo butterfly has long been prized by collectors, who aim to possess as many of the variants as possible. While over-collecting is believed to have caused populations to decline in some areas, such as in Spain and Italy, habitat change is thought to be a far more significant threat to this species’ survival.[1] Plantations of conifers, the succession of suitable habitat to scrubland, agriculture, and urbanization have all reduced the habitat of the Apollo butterfly. Climate change and acid rain have also been implicated in this species decline in Fennoscandia. In addition, motor vehicles have been cited as a cause of Apollo butterfly mortalities; vehicles on a motorway system near Bozen in South Tyrol, Italy, are said to have nearly wiped out a race of the Apollo.[1]

Graphium Sarpedon

Graphium sarpedon, the common bluebottle or blue triangle (Australia), is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in South and Southeast Asia, as well as parts of Australia. There are approximately 15 subspecies with differing geographical distributions.

Mother-of-Pearl

This large, beautiful butterfly has almost translucent wings; they are iridescent pale green shot with purple. In flight its scales catch with light, but at rest it becomes dull: effective camouflage amongst leaves. Its outer edges and hooked forewing tip are black and it has varying black spots on both wings. The hindwings are an irregular, jagged shape, with a short tail that is also black. Above the tail is a bright red, white and black eyespot which deters predators. Mother-of-Pearl Butterflies are unusual for their seasonal differences: during the wet season they are smaller.

Pearl Crescent

The Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) is a butterfly of North America. It is found in all parts of the United States except the west coast, and throughout Mexico and parts of southern Canada, in particular Ontario. Its habitat is open areas such as pastures, road edges, vacant lots, fields, open pine woods. Its pattern is quite variable. Males usually have black antennal knobs. Its upperside is orange with black borders; postmedian and submarginal areas are crossed by fine black marks. Underside of hindwing has a dark marginal patch containing a light-colored crescent.

Indian Leaf Butterfly

Aka The Orange Oakleaf or Dead Leaf (Kallima inachus) is a nymphalid butterfly found in tropical Asia from India to Japan. With wings closed, it closely resembles a dry leaf with dark veins and is a spectacular example of camouflage.

Monarch Butterfly

The Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae), in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer.[3][4][5] It is resident in the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, and is found as an occasional migrant in Western Europe and a rare migrant in the United Kingdom.[6] Its wings feature an easily recognizable orange and black pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 centimetres (3½–4 in).[7] (The Viceroy butterfly has a similar size, color, and pattern, but can be distinguished by an extra black stripe across the hind wing.) Female Monarchs have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot called the “androconium” in the center of each hind wing[8] from which pheromones are released. Males are also slightly larger.

Skipper Butterfly

A skipper or skipper butterfly is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. They are named after their quick, darting flight habits. There are more than 3500 recognized species of skippers and they occur worldwide, but with the greatest diversity in the Neotropical regions of Central and South America.[1] click on photo for more info