very large butterfly

Alternative descriptions

God of light, music and medicine, son of the Titanide Leto and the god Zeus (Latona and Jupiter in Roman mythology), twin brother of the goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) (mythical)

Sun God in ancient greek mythology

God, symbol of beauty, patron of the arts in ancient Greek mythology

In Greek mythology - god-healer and soothsayer, patron of the arts

Beautiful large day butterfly of the swallowtail family, common in Europe and Asia

The cult of this Greek god came from Asia Minor

Lit.-art. magazine 1909-1917, was associated with symbolism, later with Acmeism

Minor planet, asteroid

Male name: (Greek) after the sun god and patron of the arts

The most slender and handsome man of all times and peoples of ancient Greek nationality

American spaceship series

Minor planet

. "Minister of Culture" among the Olympian gods

Ron Howard's film "...-13"

Football club from Cyprus

The name of the Russian poet Maykov

The cult of this ancient Greek god became most widespread on the island of Delos and in the city of Delphi.

Painting by the French painter N. Poussin “... and Daphne”

He has many names: Protector, Averter of Evil, Guide of the Muses, Healer, Shepherd, Caregiver, Lover of Daphne, and name his most famous name

It was believed that he had no equal in the possession of the lyre

God who lived on Parnassus

What god is a handsome, superbly built man named after?

God is handsome

Patron of the Muses

Greek god launched into space by Americans

Divine butterfly

A character from the opera “Alceste” by the German composer K. Gluck

A story by Russian writer A. Averchenko

Day butterfly (European part)

Tomato variety

American spaceship

God, patron of the arts in ancient Greek mythology

God from Helikon

Another name is Phoebe

Handsome God

Both God and the ship

God is the standard of beauty

God is a healer and prophet

God rhyming with standard

Docked with Soyuz

God is the patron of the arts

Minister of Culture among the Gods

The first rocket to land on the moon

The standard of male beauty

God, patron of the muses

Young man with cithara

What god did the Italian Giovani Tiepolo paint next to the nymph Daphne?

God launched into space

US spacecraft

Belvedere handsome

. "ally" of the Soyuz ship

Phoebus otherwise

Belvedere (statue)

In Greek mythology, the god of wisdom, patron of the arts

Swallowtail butterfly

A small planet with a diameter of about 1 km, discovered by K. Reinmuth (Germany, 1932), revolves around the Sun in an elongated elliptical orbit with a period of 1.81 years

Series of American 3-seat spaceships

Minor planet

Minister of Culture among the Olympian Gods

Butterflies and their beauty in modern world gain quite a reputation. In many countries, their perfection is presented to a powerful deity capable of pulverizing nations. The historical era knew countless magnificent species of the most beautiful creatures. But, from a scientific point of view, this is just a subspecies of insects.

Features of the Lepidoptera species

Butterflies belong to the order Lepidoptera and have a number of specific features. Their main features are:

• Chitinous cover of scales, resembling slightly dense stripes.
• Development occurs with complete transformation.
• Unique size of proboscis for feeding.

It is believed that the scientific name of butterflies, namely lepidoptera, comes from Ancient Greece as a result of combining two words - scales and wing. Cases with popular names are much more interesting. Scientists believe that the word “butterfly” has ancient Slavic roots, which meant “creature of the dead.” People believed that the souls of the dead were transferred into these cute creatures and lived a second life.

Modern science is unable to accurately determine total species of butterflies in the world, as from 50 to 1 thousand new species are discovered annually. The title of the largest butterfly in the world also causes a lot of controversy. Why?

There are many in the world various types Lepidoptera, which are approximately equal in size. There were times when one species was called the largest butterfly in the world, only to be replaced by another. Ten years later, the first contender was again able to take the leading position. Therefore, it is a little easier to list the largest butterflies in the world, rather than highlight a specific winner.

The largest representatives of lepidoptera on Earth

The first contender for the title of the largest butterfly in the world is Tizania Agrippina. This is an incredible insect, amazing in its size. The wingspan sometimes reached thirty centimeters. With such incredible dimensions, such a moth could special problems completely cover your TV in the kitchen. Such a miracle of nature lives in South America. Due to their incredible size, people often perceived them as potentially dangerous. However, there is no need to go and get a slipper or roll up a newspaper to kill it. This is an absolutely safe creature that is protected from extinction.

Queen Alexandra's Ornithoptera sometimes held the position of the largest lepidopteran insect in the world. Thanks to its beautiful wingspan of up to 28 centimeters, the insect feels comfortable among the islands of Indonesia. Has a beautiful color. If the first insect mentioned is more oriented towards a nocturnal lifestyle, then this species, on the contrary, loves the sun and warmth. For killing one such cute creature you will have to pay a significant fine.

If you suddenly return from work and see a large purple stain on the ceiling, then do not panic. This Peacock-eye "Atlas" I decided to drop by and visit you. A beautiful creature of amazing size will not cause significant harm. A butterfly with a wingspan of 26 centimeters will instantly hypnotize everyone with its luscious patterns. They will not be able to harm humans or other animals. In addition, they are well bred in the world. It is known that to create large quantity clothing requires material, thanks to the caterpillars of this sweet creature, there is no shortage of silk in Asia.

Another contender for the title of the largest butterfly in the world is Sailboat Antimakh. A rare creature that is listed in the Red Book. It has a wingspan of up to 26 centimeters. The main habitat of this beauty is Africa. However, you should not look too long at the patterns of this butterfly, because it can poison a person quite strongly. As a defense, the insect uses a powerful paralyzing poison. Sometimes small reptiles and other small animals became the prey of the Sailboat.

This list of large butterflies will not be complete without Saturnia Madagascar. Despite its exotic name, representatives of this species could be found not only on an island near the African continent. Despite the modest 18 centimeters of wingspan, the butterfly has every chance to compete for the title of the largest lepidopteran creature in the world. She benefits from her unique long body.

Saturnia Madagascar is listed in the Book of Records as the longest butterfly in the world. If the average body length of previous insects is 10–12 centimeters, then it has all 18. And it is also interesting due to its bright color. Yellow tones shimmer beautifully with orange colors. Most collectors have to pay thousands of dollars to have this rare piece in their collection. Due to this, many people raise butterflies on special farms.

This list can be continued for quite a long time. Among the contenders it is also worth noting the following representatives of the insect genus:

• Peacock-eye "Hercules".
• Birdwing "Goliath".
• Trogonoptera Trojan and so on.

Without a doubt, these are real giants among representatives of lepidoptera in the modern world, however, they cannot be called the largest butterflies in the history of the planet. Many archaeological excavations in Europe, Asia and South America have shown that thousands of years ago there were representatives of this species, many times larger than modern butterflies.

Over the past few decades, there has not been a single butterfly whose length exceeded 30 centimeters. And excavations have shown that for more than 20 thousand years there were species whose wingspan reached 50 centimeters.

Almost every nation respected insects, considering them messengers of God for the soul of a person. If a butterfly often appears near a person, it was believed that life path it will soon be interrupted.

In some tribes of South America, from many species of Lepidoptera, including the above, make wonderful dishes, which in taste can compete with the dishes of the best chefs in the world.

In Africa, the poison of the Antimachus swallowtail is often used V medicinal purposes, for hunting. They can coat arrowheads with it. The poison can paralyze an antelope for several hours.

Butterflies are one of the largest orders of the insect class. There are about 140 thousand species. They are found in almost every part of the world and many of them have unusual colors. Among them there are both “giants” and “dwarfs”. It’s the first ones we’ll talk about today.

I propose to get acquainted with the five largest butterflies in the world. During the selection, 2 main criteria were taken into account: wing span and wing area.

First place goes to South American tropical cutworm or Tizania Agrippina(Thysania agrippina). This moth from the noctuid family, it is the largest in the world. The wingspan is at its most large specimen, caught in Brazil in 1934, was 30.8 cm. In 1997, in the northern part of Peru, another butterfly of the same species with almost the same parameters was found.

The South American tropical armyworm is a very rare species and in its habitat - in Mexico and in a number of countries in the northern part of South America - is under the strictest protection.

Nature has endowed this butterfly with colossal size, but not beauty. The color is quite pale - brown patterns on a light gray background.

South American tropical armyworm or tysania agrippina (Thysania agrippina)

Second place is rightfully occupied by another moth - peacock eye hercules(Coscinocera hercules) from the peacock eye family ( Saturniidae). The wingspan of females reaches 28 cm. In addition, this species also has the most large area wings - 263.2 cm 2.

The Hercules peacock-eye lives in Australia and on several islands of New Guinea.

Peacock-eye Hercules (Coscinocera hercules)

Third place is awarded Queen Alexandra's birdwing or Ornithoptera Queen Alexandra (Ornithoptera alexandrae) for a wingspan of 28 cm. This is also a diurnal butterfly, but it already belongs to the family of swallowtails ( Papilionidae).

The scientific world first learned about its existence in 1906 thanks to butterfly collector Albert Steward Meek. And from another collector, Walter Rothschild, this butterfly received its scientific name. It was named after the wife of King Edward VII of Great Britain, Alexandra.

This is very rare view butterflies and lives exclusively in the Popondetta Mountains, Papua New Guinea.

Male (top) and female (bottom)

Large sizes Only females have it. The butterfly's body length is 8 cm, and its rounded wingspan reaches 28 cm. Males differ sharply from females, both in size and color. Females are dark brown with patterns of cream, yellow and white. Males have narrower wings and are colored blue and green. Their span is only 20 cm.

Male Queen Alexandra's Birdwing

Honorable 4th place given ( Attacus atlas ). This butterfly is not only one of the largest, but also the most beautiful in the world. The wings are colored brown, red, yellow, cream and pink.

In this species, females are also larger than males. The maximum wingspan is 26 cm. It is found in tropical forests South China, some countries South-East Asia(from Thailand to Indonesia, Java and Borneo).

This is probably the only species of butterfly presented here that people have learned to use for their benefit. The silk thread secreted by the Atlas caterpillar is used to create silk fabrics, and in Taiwan markets you can see original wallets made from large 10-centimeter cocoons.

Attacus atlas

Well, in 5th place we have sailboat antimah (Papilio antimachus) with a wingspan of 25 cm. In this species, on the contrary, males are larger than females. The color of the wings varies from ocher to orange and red-yellow.

Distributed in wet forests Africa (Cameroon, Liberia, Angola, Congo, Zaire, Uganda, Nigeria, etc.). Females prefer to stay in the treetops and very rarely go down. Males tend to stay on flowering plants.

Male swallowtail (Papilio antimachus)

Mondich Anastasia Mikhailovna

Butterfly world

Supervisor:

Kuznetsova Maria Vladimirovna

teacher primary classes

G. Nizhny Novgorod

Municipal educational institution secondary school No. 41

Introduction

Once upon a time, a butterfly was a flower blooming in an open field. But the flower really wanted to know what was there, beyond the forest and the river... And he asked sunny sun so that it will teach him to fly above the earth like clouds. And the flower began to wait... And it waited for a hundred or a thousand years... Or even a hundred thousand years. Or maybe a million years. Which, in general, is the same thing. And finally, his dreams came true - the petals of the flower turned into light wings, woven from mists and dreams! And he became a butterfly, a fluttering flower, and saw what was beyond the forest and the river. Since then, she has been flying above the earth, and spring flowers are blooming behind her, dreaming, like her, to rise above the earth...

How accurately this legend speaks about some of the most beautiful living creatures on Earth! They look like flowers come to life; the whimsicality and brightness of the color of their wings is truly fabulous. A bunch of fairy tales And there are legends about butterflies, which scientists call rather boringly: Lepidoptera. But their names are beautiful, these are often names greek gods and heroes: Apollo, Psyche, Hector, Icarus. This is how people expressed their admiration for the bright beauty of butterflies. And the scales are the most important thing in their outfit - the same “pollen” that is so easily erased by the careless touches of the merciless fingers of some butterfly “lovers”...

They are the best plant pollinators. And some flowers are generally pollinated only by butterflies. Also, the raw material for natural silk is a product of interaction silkworm and Chinese oak peacock eye.

The purpose of my research: to find out what makes a butterfly a butterfly, and also to find out where they came from.

Butterflies represent dreams. Who doesn’t want to be beautiful, free, inspired by happiness! They seem to make us understand: life is fleeting - why waste it on despondency? Take every day as a gift, rejoice and give joy to others.

1. What makes a butterfly a butterfly.

Each body part of the adult form is a series of reinforced segments made of a tough substance called chitin. But of much greater interest are the numerous sensitive detectors that provide lepidopteran insects with information about the surrounding world.

All representatives of this species have approximately the same head structure, where the main motion detectors are located. Here is the brain, as well as complex compound eyes that sensitively detect the slightest movement. All lepidopterans are distinguished by acute vision, but many moths are also able to detect ultrasonic waves emitted by their main enemy, bats. Some moths even make a special sound that confuses the bat's radar, preventing it from finding its prey.

Long “palps”, or antennae, at the top of the head serve to detect odors and air vibrations. They are sensitive to the slightest trace of the scent of a female or a food source carried from afar on the wind. Following the line of odor as it intensifies, insects get to its source. With their paws they taste the plant, and the females find a place to lay eggs by touch.

Below is a coiled tongue, or proboscis, a feeding organ that can be straightened and curled at the request of the owner. With the help of a proboscis, lepidopteran insects suck nectar from flowers, which is their main food. Nectar is often hidden deep in a large flower, and to get to it, the butterfly straightens its proboscis. Not all lepidopterans have a developed proboscis, and many adult individuals do not eat anything at all, living off the reserves accumulated by the caterpillar.

Many moths have very unusual shape. Thus, a whole group of small moths received the name fantails, because their wings are divided into six separate segments. And some African pied moths have elongated hind wings in the shape of a narrow pennant.

Many species of moths (but not butterflies) have flightless females with barely visible wings, or even without them at all. But all males have well-developed wings and are able to fly. Islander moths have tiny wings and often hop rather than fly. The fact is that a flying insect can easily be carried by the wind to the sea, where it will most likely die. In these species, the wings are fully formed already at the moment of emergence from the pupa and do not grow any further.

Butterflies and moths owe their scientific name “lepidoptera,” or “lepidoptera,” to the finest pollen that remains on our fingers from the slightest touch of their wings. Each microscopic scale is colored differently and has a ribbed surface. All of them are laid overlapping on the wings and body of the insect, like tiles on a roof, forming bizarre multi-colored patterns.

Nature has generously endowed butterflies and moths with a rich spectrum of colors and patterns, rivaled only by flowers. The pigmentation of lepidopteran insects performs several functions. One of them is to become noticeable to your sexual partner.

The pattern on the wings serves as camouflage, helping to hide from predators. Sometimes the camouflage is so good that a motionless butterfly or moth cannot be distinguished from a leaf or twig. Even the imitation of holes on the wings resembles a leaf eaten away by caterpillars. The black-and-white mosaic pattern on the wings of some moths looks like specks of bird droppings.

Since butterflies and moths do not bite or sting, they have to resort to other methods of self-defense, and a bright outfit often serves as a warning: “don’t touch me, I’m not tasty.” The bodies of many lepidopterans contain poison taken from the plants they feed on. For them it is completely harmless, but extremely unpleasant for birds and other predators, and, having discovered, for example, that bright butterfly inedible, the bird will subsequently avoid insects with similar colors.

Orange and black wannabe admiral. Poisonous Danaid.

Some non-venomous lepidoptera copy the pigmentation of poisonous insects. This phenomenon is called mimicry. Some moths take on special threatening poses, imitating stinging wasps.

Many butterflies and moths have brightly colored circles, or “eyes,” on their wings, similar to real eyes, which can scare away small animals that are ready to grab the insect. At rest, the wings of a butterfly are usually folded, and the “eyes” are not visible, but the disturbed insect instantly opens its wings, the attacker gets scared, and the insect manages to fly away.

2.Where does a butterfly begin?

All life cycle Lepidoptera is divided into 4 stages: egg, caterpillar (larva), pupa and adult, i.e. flying butterfly or moth. The last stage ensures the spread of the species to new territories, and is also the reproductive phase, during which mating occurs. Females lay one or a whole cluster of eggs on a plant or other food source for future caterpillars. If the female unsuccessfully selects a place for her future offspring, the newly born caterpillars will die of starvation. Some species of butterflies, whose caterpillars are omnivorous, lay eggs by simply scattering them in flight.

The eggs hatch into caterpillars - worm-like creatures consisting of a series of chitinous rings. They eat a lot and molt several times, each time becoming larger. Caterpillars are endowed with sensitive sensory organs that help them survive and avoid being eaten by numerous predators.

This crawling people amazes with its variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Many caterpillars skillfully camouflage themselves in foliage. Others, on the contrary, are extremely brightly colored. Thus, the caterpillar of the cinnabar butterfly, which feeds on the leaves of the poisonous groundsel, is itself poisonous, which it warns the enemy about with its bright robe. Most caterpillars feed on plants, but some are not averse to preying on other insects. Certain types of caterpillars “graze” in clusters of aphids or scale insects, which are often found on plants. There are also “narrow specialists”, such as Hawaiian moth caterpillars, which even catch flies. Clinging to a branch with their hind legs, they freeze motionless, like a broken twig, and deftly grab the unwary midges.

Powerful, well-developed jaws allow the caterpillars to chew even very hard materials. For example, clothes moth caterpillars (a common household pest) can easily chew through thick woolen carpets. They cannot digest artificial fibers, but they can damage them as much as they want, and therefore they have to wage a serious fight against clothes moths.

The third stage of life of a lepidopteran insect is the pupa. Without exception, all butterflies and moths go through this stage of metamorphosis, or the transformation of a crawling caterpillar into a winged adult. The caterpillar stops eating food and finds a safe place to shed its outer cover, spin a cocoon and pupate (molt into a pupa). Its durable shell protects the insect during the period of complete reorganization of its body.

This stage of development is called the “resting phase”, because outwardly the pupa does not show any signs of life. Meanwhile, turbulent processes are continuously boiling inside her. All anatomical structures of the larva are destroyed, and their material is used to build an adult insect (imago). Finally, when the transformation comes to an end, a rumpled, clumsy creature emerges from the chrysalis, completely different from the winged beauty of the butterfly. However, as the veins fill with liquid, the wings gradually straighten, harden, and here in front of us is a dazzlingly beautiful young butterfly, ready to flutter and fly away.

3. Food and flowers

Butterflies feed primarily on flower nectar. Some also extract nutrients from pollen, tree sap, ripened or overripe fruits, manure and decomposed minerals in wet sand or mud.
As adults, butterflies consume only liquids that they absorb using their proboscis. They feed on the nectar of flowers. When a butterfly lands on a flower, yellow pollen sticks to its feet, without which plants cannot reproduce. Flying from one flower to another, the butterfly carries pollen and pollinates them. This has been happening for millions of years. Butterflies need nectar, plants need butterflies and other insects to reproduce. Mutually beneficial relationship!

Over the years, butterflies and plants changed, sometimes matching each other.

Take, for example, the sailboat - palameda. These butterflies feed on orchid nectar. The shape of the flower resembles a long tube. To reach the donectar, you need a very long proboscis. And the sailboat has just such a thing! But it was not always so. According to scientists, a long time ago, orchid flowers were shorter and so was the butterfly’s proboscis. Over time, the flower and butterfly adapted to each other.

To protect themselves from predators, Danaid caterpillars feed only poisonous plants, which is why both caterpillars and adult butterflies become a dangerous snack for lizards, birds and mammals.

4. 25 fun facts about butterflies.

1.Widest habitat of all insects
...at the American white butterfly Hyphantria cunea from the bear family. This pest has the widest habitat. Its caterpillar feeds on 636 species of plants that grow in different parts of the globe. It is inferior to the gypsy moth butterfly and the Japanese beetle. The gypsy moth butterfly feeds on plants whose parts contain tannin.

2.Vision
The number of facets in the eye of a butterfly is 17 thousand, in a fly there are 4 thousand facets, and in a dragonfly - 28 thousand.

3 . The biggest butterfly

This swallowtail butterfly Ornithoptera alexandrae from Papua New Guinea. R The wingspan of females can be more than 280 mm, and the weight can be more than 25 g. Some butterflies have a wingspan of 32 cm and occupy an area of ​​over 300 sq. km. They can be considered the largest insects. And although the giants of the insect world live in the tropics, in our country there are also large insects: swallowtail butterflies, some peacock eyes and cocoon moths

The biggest moth.

... The largest moth in the world reaches 30 cm in size - this is the prince of darkness called Atlas peacock eye (Attacus atlas). With such luxurious wings, it can easily be confused with a butterfly. IN It is found naturally in the Atlas Mountains.

4. Butterfly of the Miocene era.

There is a known imprint of a butterfly wing from the Miocene era.

5. There are transparent butterflies.

Some butterflies have transparent wings. When the Acraea andromacha butterfly lands on a flower, neighboring flowers are clearly visible through its transparent wings, and the butterfly itself is almost invisible.

6. The oldest butterfly is the moth

Archeolepis (1985, moth), found on the Dorset coast, England, estimated age 180,000,000 years.

7. Travelers

ABOUT Angry moths (Pyraustidae) resemble moths in appearance. Butterflies have a wingspan of 20-25 mm and are variable in color. They feed on flowers around the clock. They migrate in search of food, covering up to a kilometer a day. They overwinter in the soil in a cocoon. Butterflies fly over a distance of 30-100 km, and are carried by the wind 400-500 km. Meadow moth (Margaritia sticticalis) may cause outbreaks of mass reproduction in the Baikal region, reaching the proportions of a disaster.

Other travelers are hawk moths (Sphingidae), large butterflies with a streamlined body and narrow wings. They reach speeds of up to 50 km per hour and fly over long distances.

The red admiral can be found on different continents. These butterflies make amazing flights from Africa to Europe and back, migrating from Canada to Mexico.

8 . The smallest butterfly

...This Zizula hylax, living in Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Arabia, tropical zone Asia and Australia, the length of the front wing of which is only 6 mm. She is active during the day.

The smallest moth
...This Stigmella ridiculosa, living on the Canary Islands. Among all 165,000 species of Lepidoptera known to us, it is recognized as the smallest. Its wingspan and body length are approximately 2 mm.

9. Track weight

The caterpillar can lift a load approximately 25 times its own weight.

10. Spinning record

The silkworm cocoon consists of 4,601,100 meters of thread and is made in 72 hours.

11. Mutually beneficial cooperation

N butterfly yucca(yucca moth), which lives in the desert, is the only pollinator of flowering yucca cacti. Pollination occurs in the following way. A butterfly takes pollen from one cactus into its mouth and carries it to another cactus, flying towards the smell of flowers. Upon arrival, she unerringly unloads the pollen in the right place for the seeds to set. Here the butterfly lays three eggs, and its caterpillars feed on cactus seeds that were formed as a result of pollination. They use a small amount of seeds for food; most of the seeds are saved and give life to new plants.

12. Poisonous blood

P oysterworts (Zygaenidae) stand out immediately - their black body is cast with steel, their wings have scarlet spots. They are slow and clumsy and do not fly well. As soon as you pick up a butterfly, it pretends to be dead, releasing a yellow, foul-smelling liquid from its joints. This is the poisonous blood of the pest, making it inedible. That’s why butterflies sit calmly on plants, warning everyone with their coloring. Their caterpillars are also poisonous.

13. The rarest butterfly
Several species claim the title of the rarest butterfly, including the largest of all butterflies - Queen Alexandra's sailing ship. She lives in Papua New Guinea. The survival of this species has not been helped in any way by the attention paid to it by collectors.

14.Butterflies do not fly towards the light

They are attracted to the darkest place, which they believe is located directly behind the light source.

15. Butterfly plume

R The magnificent plume of the male Saturnia butterfly serves to capture odorous pheromone molecules.

16. Who likes to eat what?

Among butterflies, there are those whose caterpillars feed on wax and wool. These are wax moths and clothes moths, fur moths and other moths. But most butterflies live off wild plants.

17.Highest flight speed among insects

...y cutworms upsilon Agrotis ipsilon, a butterfly with a wingspan of 45 mm, which can reach 97 and even 113 km/h. The flight speed of an insect depends on its mass, air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, oxygen saturation of the air, flight angle and even habitat isolation. There is reliable data regarding the flight speed of the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa zea - ​​28 km/h.

18. Longest diapause

B The yucca butterfly (yucca moth) from the family Prodoxidae has the longest diapause. Adult Yucca baccata (Agavaceae) insects from Nevada emerged from larvae after 19 years, all this time they were monitored in the laboratory.

19. There are flickering butterflies.

P Like many butterflies, the blue morpho's wings are covered with tiny scales. These scales make the bright blue butterfly iridescent. At different angles, its color changes from blue to purple - and even neon blue.

20. During her short life, a female butterfly can lay more than 1,000 eggs.

21. In addition to the tropical butterflies familiar to us, there are also arctic butterflies. They are inconspicuous in appearance, their wings are not bright, but whitish or almost transparent, as if made of glass. Several species of butterflies that live on the Canadian Queen Elizabeth Island, 750 kilometers from North Pole.

22. Butterflies have become hobby many famous people. They were collected by Vladimir Nabokov, Mikhail Bulgakov, academician Ivan Pavlov, revolutionary Nikolai Bukharin, and the famous financier Walter Rothschild. Vladimir Nabokov discovered 20 species of butterflies and gave them names. And he donated his collection of 4,324 copies to the Zoological Museum of the University of Lausanne.

23. If in Europe they only enjoy the beauty of butterflies, then in China, South America and India they know how to cook them and enjoy it are eating.

24. On his 80th birthday, Kim Il Sung received a gift from soldiers and officers picture"Selfless faith of a soldier" - from 4.5 million butterfly wings.

25. In Stockholm there is clinics, in which patients are treated for stress in greenhouses with flowers and butterflies.

1. Tiger Swallowtail

The tiger swallowtail is an American butterfly, a relative of our swallowtails. Adult butterflies feed on nectar. But their caterpillars have a rather unpleasant character: if they are disturbed, they behave like real snakes - they raise their heads and put out a pair of scary horns. A very scary sight! Who would have thought that these monsters would turn out to be one of the the most beautiful butterflies.

These beauties can be found in almost every corner of Asia. Despite the fact that their wingspan is about 10 centimeters, they fly very quickly. To observe them in nature, you need to be quite agile and agile.

3. Evening Brown

Evening Beauty - Although not the most colorful butterfly on our list, the unique pattern on its wings makes it unique. Huge “eyes” on them - specifically to scare away birds of prey who want to feast on a defenseless moth. You can see the butterfly in Australia, in the forest. Favorite time day - before dark.

4. Malachite Butterfly

Of course, this butterfly is named after the well-known mineral - malachite. It is found in Central and South America, less often in North America. But with this beauty, not everything is so simple: contrary to popular belief that butterflies feed exclusively on nectar, the diet of this green miracle is much more varied. Maybe this is how she acquired her unusual coloring?

5. Great Purple Hairstreak

Big purple marshmallow got this beautiful name completely undeserved. Judge for yourself how much there is on her wings purple? If you want to see her in natural conditions- you'll have to go to the south of the USA.

6.Eastern Black Swallowtail

Another swallowtail butterfly, this time from North America. Its caterpillars are partial to dill and parsley. The wingspan is 8-11 centimeters, they are very decorated with unusual red spots.

7. Morpho Nestira

This butterfly is simply dazzling. Her " business card" - unique bright color with an almost aluminum tint. Moreover, the wingspan can reach 20 centimeters. In the regions where the butterfly lives - and these are Chile and Mexico - it is protected by law.

8. Magellan's Iridescent Birdwing

An unusually rare species found in Taiwan. It is generally accepted that there are very few such butterflies: about 2 thousand in Taiwan and about 500 copies in collectors’ collections around the world... The color of the wings is unusual - it changes depending on the angle of rotation.

9. Orange-barred Sulfur

In Russian - yellow butterfly, or white butterfly. Rarely large, the wingspan is only 5-7 centimeters. But, you see, this doesn’t stop her from being a beauty!

The monarch butterfly is known to everyone due to its unusual migrations for these creatures. Like birds, monarchs native to North America flock south to Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas each fall. At the same time, they overcome 3 thousand kilometers! In Southern California, thanks to the monarchs that remain for the winter, a phenomenon known as “butterfly trees” is known: monarchs cover the trunk and branches of the tree with a living carpet.

To see the monarch, it is not necessary to go to another continent: in the last century, butterflies, thanks to their ability to migrate over long distances, moved not only to Australia, New Zealand and to the Hawaiian Islands, but also to Europe.

Conclusion

There is hardly a person in the world who would not admire them in the same way as beautiful flowers are admired. It is not for nothing that in ancient Rome they believed that butterflies originated from flowers that broke away from plants.

Looking at the first chart, you can see that most of my peers agree with this.

When asked about the usefulness of butterflies, 80% of respondents were also right.

Butterflies began to benefit humans at least about 7,000 years ago. The most valuable “silk producer” is the silkworm (family Bombyci-dae). This butterfly has been bred in China for thousands of years.
However, silk is not the only gift of the silkworm to people: relatively recently they began to secrete oil from its pupae, which is used as a medicine to treat cancer.
The benefits of butterflies far outweigh the harm that caterpillars cause by eating plants. Moreover, people themselves are often to blame for the spread and mass reproduction of caterpillars. After all, it is clear that the number of pests increases sharply where the same agricultural crop (monoculture) is constantly planted over large areas. Pests are also favored by the unjustified use of pesticides, which primarily affect beneficial insects that destroy harmful ones.
A caterpillar eating a plant does not always harm it. In the relationship between an insect and its “breadwinner” that has developed over millions of years, each of them has its own rules for survival. Sometimes damage even stimulates plant development. And only when the number of caterpillars during mass reproduction turns out to be unusually high, they can reduce the yield and even destroy the tree.

When asked whether butterflies are listed in the Red Book, 35% answered that they are not, but currently more than a hundred species of butterflies in our country are already listed in the Red Book. They were damaged a lot by cheerful children chasing butterflies with gauze nets in their hands. It is very pleasant to realize that most of my classmates do not like to catch butterflies (this can be seen in diagram No. 4), and they do not have nets (diagram No. 5). In Diagram No. 6. It can be seen that not a single one of the respondents would leave the butterfly for the collection because... Not a single collection with dead insects frozen on pins will bring that living joy that is given by meadow herbs shimmering with colors or a clearing in the forest where bright, wonderful butterflies fly, flutter, and dance in the sunny air. Butterflies have very short life and therefore, by the time we show it to our friends, most of its life will have already passed, and it will not have time to pollinate flowers and lay larvae. Nature has developed many adaptations for them, reliably protecting them from natural enemies. Butterflies are powerless only against humans. Learn to admire and observe. Don't destroy, but protect. This is an important matter for man on Earth.

What can you do?

Plant more flowers in the garden.

Do not dump garbage in the river and do not dump used oil from cars there.

There is no need to recklessly spray your garden generously with potent drugs, because you are poisoning not only insects, but also creating a threat to your health.

By clearing land for construction, people destroy plants, without which butterflies cannot survive. But the fewer butterflies, the fewer plants are pollinated. But without pollination there will be no new plants...

If you really love butterflies. Then you can make your own collection without harming the butterflies. IN last years It is becoming increasingly popular to collect not the butterflies themselves, but information about them obtained through observations of their lives in natural conditions and photographing.

The collection of photographs does not deliver less joy, and sometimes no less valuable information than the collections of the butterflies themselves. Each photograph is accompanied by an indication of the location, date and time of shooting, as well as an image and description of the butterfly’s habitat.

Insects, like other animals, need protection, and man must find ways to preserve the wealth of this beautiful world.

List of used literature.

1. Chineri M. Butterflies. - M.: AST, 2002. - 256 p.

2. Catalog of Lepidoptera of Russia / Edited by Sinev S. Yu. - M.: KMK, 2008. - 424 pages

3. Tatarinov A. G., Dolgin M. M. Species diversity of club-shaped Lepidoptera in the European North-East of Russia. - M.: Nauka, 2001.-244 pp.

4. National geographic (Young traveler). Article Twenty fun facts about butterflies. Ed. "Egmont Russia Ltd.", September 2008. - 16 pages.

5. National geographic (Young traveler). Article living colors. Ed. "Egmont Russia Ltd.", August 2009. - 26 pages.

Names of sites from the Internet:

Atlas of daytime butterflies middle zone European part of Russia

Butterflies - specialized sites on butterflies in Russian

Butterflies of Crimea. Photo collection

Lepidoptera (Macrolepidoptera) of the Palaearctic: observations, search and maintenance of caterpillars

Russian Butterflies

Atlases-identifiers of caterpillars and pupae of butterflies.