Scientists have already studied more than 150 thousand species of butterflies. According to preliminary estimates, science knows nothing about at least 100 thousand species! Among such diversity there are amazing specimens. For example, acetosia is the smallest butterfly in the world. It can only be found in Great Britain; the body length and wingspan of the baby are only 2 mm. Rediculosis is 2 times more. Its wingspan is already 4 mm. What is the largest butterfly in the world? The article will tell you about giant moths, which are larger than a starling.
Selection criteria
It would seem that what could be easier than determining which butterfly is the largest on Earth? Measure the wings, compare with other moths - and you're done! But it's not that simple. Entomologists argue what to compare: wingspan or area? While there is no exact answer, we will separately present the winners in each category.
Scoop Agrippina
She is also called Agrippa or Tisania Agrippina. This insect has the largest wingspan in the world - 27-29 cm. In 1934, tropical forests South America caught an agrippa with a wingspan of 30.8 cm. Mario Callegari, a well-known entomologist in scientific circles, claims that in 1997 in the Peruvian jungle he caught an agrippa with a wingspan of 31.2 cm!
The butterfly is distributed throughout the South American continent and is also found in Central America. The background of the wings is light gray or white. Along it is a pattern of alternating clear, sinuous lines of dark brown color. Bandages and brown or brown spots-smears are visible between the lines. The edges of the wings are neat zigzag. The body is stocky, 9 cm long, striped, like a zebra.
The antennae are long and mobile. When a butterfly sits with its wings spread out on a gray tree trunk, it becomes almost invisible. Nature gave it such excellent camouflage to protect it from birds and other insectivores.
The noctuid moth Agrippina has so far been little studied. It is known that it is predominantly nocturnal. It is believed that its larvae, like adults, feed on the greenery of plants of the genus Cassia, belonging to the legume family.
The caterpillars grow up to 16 cm in length. The female attracts the male with a special odorous secretion, the smell of which the male can smell several kilometers away.
The species is classified as endangered and is under government protection in Brazil.
Peacock-eye Hercules
The Peacock-Eyed Butterfly Hercules or Koscinocera Hercules rightfully claims the title of the largest butterfly in the world. The wingspan reaches 28 cm in females, 26-27 cm in males, and their area is simply huge - 263 sq.cm. In males, the hind wings end in long (up to 12 cm) spurs.
The butterfly has a very beautiful bright color, indeed, from a distance it resembles peacock feathers.
This beauty lives on the Australian mainland and on the islands of New Guinea. Leads a nocturnal lifestyle. Butterfly caterpillars also grow very large - up to 17 cm in length. Feeds on leaves of willow, lilac, late bird cherry, walnut, stream tree. Breeds well in captivity.
Peacock-eye Atlas
Another giant butterfly. It has a wingspan of up to 26 cm, their area is 220 sq. cm. Lives in tropical rainforests in southern China, in South-East Asia(from Thailand to Indonesia, on the islands of Java and Kalimantan). By the way, it was on the island of Java that an Atlas specimen with a wingspan of 26.2 cm was caught and officially measured.
The wings of the moth are very richly colored: on a general brown background of various shades there are patterns, straight and winding lines of red, white, yellow, and silver. In the middle of the wings there are large transparent triangles with black edging. The edges are bordered with a velvety light brown ribbon with black parallel stripes.
Due to the intricately curved shape of the front wings, this butterfly is called the “Snake-headed Moth” in Hong Kong. They are also called “Princes of Darkness” because they are nocturnal.
The peculiarity of the insect is the absence of a mouth. Atlas lives only 2 weeks, and does not eat at all, subsisting on nutrients, accumulated in the body of the caterpillar. Its main task is reproduction.
The female exudes pheromones, which the male senses 10-15 km away from her! While the male is looking for her, she sits motionless in the dense crown of a tree. These butterflies have the longest sexual intercourse in the animal world - mating lasts several hours. After this, the butterfly lays eggs and soon dies.
The caterpillar of this moth is also very interesting: large, up to 10 cm in length. The light green body is all covered with long bluish shoots, which seem to be crushed on top by white prickly frost.
Peacock-eye Atlas useful butterfly. In Thailand, its huge cocoons are used by natives as wallets. In India, they are grown on farms to produce fagar silk. This thread is superior in quality to silk silkworm. It is distinguished by unprecedented durability, high strength and excellent wooliness.
A giant butterfly can be seen at the Moscow Zoo.
Sailboat Maak
Other giants
The article examined the world's largest butterflies. Also in this row are:
- Ornithoptera (Birdwing) of Queen Alexandra. The wingspan is up to 26 cm. It is the largest daytime butterfly on earth. Found exclusively in the territory of Papua New Guinea.
- The Antimachus swallowtail is the largest butterfly in Africa. Leads a daily lifestyle. The wingspan of males is up to 23-25 cm.
- The pear peacock eye is the largest European butterfly and is nocturnal. The wingspan reaches 15.5 cm.
- Maak's swallowtail is a day moth, the largest in Russia. The wingspan is up to 14 cm. Males have a very beautiful coloring: green threads of various shades shine like lurex on the dark green glossy background of the wings, and black fringe borders the edges. The hind wings are decorated with dark blue spurs.
The agrippina moth or, as it is otherwise called, agrippina tysania (Thysania agrippina) is the largest butterfly in the world, the wingspan of which usually reaches 30 cm.
Scoop agrippina
And in 1934, the largest individual of this species with a wingspan of 30.8 cm was caught in Brazil. The owners of the record size among lepidopterans are nocturnal and feed on the leaves of shrubs of the genus Cassia.
Tisania agrippina butterflies can be found in Mexico, Central and South America. They are believed to migrate from southern regions to the state of Texas.
Scoop agrippina
Pattern on the wings of a butterfly of the Tisani agrippina species
However, there is another species of butterfly in the world with no less impressive sizes. A butterfly that lives in the tropical forests of Madagascar, called Argema mittrei, does not have such a large wingspan as the Agrippina cutworm (14-16 cm), but is also considered one of the largest butterflies on the planet. This is so because its wings are larger in area than the wings of Agrippina, and also because individuals of this species have “tails” on the hind wings, which can reach 13 cm.
Argema mitrei. The female Argema mithraea accumulates all the necessary food reserves in the caterpillar stage, since, as an adult, this butterfly does not feed at all.
Argema mitrei (bottom view).
Argema mittrei (top view)
Butterflies are decorations of all fields and vegetable gardens in spring and summer season. It’s nice to see this insect with the beautiful color of its wings on a branch. However, you and I can rarely meet giant butterflies in the wild; more often they are miniature.
In this article you will learn about who the largest butterfly in the world is, what it looks like and where it lives. An insect of amazing size that pleases the eye with its appearance.
So, the title of the largest belongs to the butterfly tizania agrippina - the wingspan of different individuals is 25-31 cm, most often 27-28 cm. The butterfly is also known under other names - agrippa or scoop agrippina. This moth, that’s why the name scoop or also night bat appeared.
Facts about Tizania Agrippina
- Tizania agrippa is the largest butterfly in the world in terms of wingspan. However, the largest butterfly in terms of wing area is another butterfly - the atlas peacock eye.
- Agrippa's wingspan is 25-31 cm, these are statements from various sources. More specific data indicate 29.8 cm in an individual that was found in Brazil. But even from here you can lose 1 cm in favor of violating entomological measurement rules. Therefore, the maximum wingspan of a butterfly that has been measured is 28.8 cm.
- Tizania belongs to a small genus of butterflies that is poorly studied. These butterflies are protected by law in some states of Brazil.
- Agrippa lives in Central and South America and is also found in Mexico.
- The largest butterfly in the world belongs to the family of nocturnal butterflies, which is why it is also called the moth.
- The color of the wings resembles the bark of a tree and allows the insect to camouflage itself.
Caught specimens of Tisani agrippina
The largest cutworm specimens were caught twice. The first butterfly was found in Costa Rica. Measurements showed a wingspan of 28.6 cm. The second one is larger – 29.8 cm, and was found in Brazil.
It is worth noting that the measurements were not carried out according to entomological rules, and there is an error. Therefore, you can safely take off a centimeter from the indicated dimensions.
Description of the Agrippa butterfly
The largest butterfly in the world has gray or White background, on which dark spots are located. This color allows it to camouflage itself on the bark of trees. The edges of the wings are sinuous. The color may vary in different individuals.
The largest butterfly in the world is found in the tropical forests of South and Central America. This is the famous Tizania agrippina (aka Scoop), a representative of the fauna, amazing in size. Unfortunately, such giant butterflies are not found in Russia.
Tizania agrippina: where the largest butterfly in the world was first found
This happened first in Costa Rica. The length of each of the insect's front wings turned out to be 148 mm, and the total span was up to 296 mm.
The second time was in Brazil. In terms of scope, the specimen was 12 cm larger than the first. However, it turned out that the measurements were not carried out as prescribed by entomological rules. Nevertheless, the information was recorded.
How does he live and what does he eat?
The winged beauty is active exclusively at night, so seeing her during the day is great luck. It feeds on the leaves of the cassia bush, a small evergreen plant.
The armyworm is considered an endangered species; it is found very rarely, and therefore is included in the International Red Book.
For all its unusualness, this butterfly is far from the only one from the family of winged insects on Earth that has impressive sizes and a unique pattern on its wings.
Tizania agrippina
The South American tropical moth, or tisania agrippina, is a large nocturnal moth from the noctuid family. Is largest butterfly in the world - in 1934, the largest individual with a wingspan of 30.8 cm was caught in Brazil. A similar specimen was caught in 1997 by entomologist Mario Callegari in northern Peru.
Distributed in Mexico, Central and South America. Considered a southern migrant to Texas.
Tizania agrippina
Butterflies are one of the largest groups of insects, including more than 137,000 species, the total estimated number of the order is up to 200 thousand species
Butterflies are the most popular group of insects for private collectors and scientists. This is due to the huge number of species, a wide variety of shapes, their wide distribution, variety of sizes and colors. Collecting butterflies originated a very long time ago. Back in the mid-18th century, English butterfly collectors called themselves Aurelians - from the Latin aureus - “golden” (a hint at the golden color of the pupae of some butterflies). IN mid-19th century, the interior of Victorian houses certainly included a glass cabinet, where, along with shells, fossils and minerals, dried butterflies were also displayed.
As a result economic activity human - deforestation, plowing of virgin steppes, drainage of swamps - the number of many species of butterflies has decreased significantly, and some of them are on the verge of extinction.
Tizania agrippina
Peacock-eye Hercules
Another large butterfly is the Hercules Peacock-eye - a night butterfly from the peacock-eye family. One of the most big butterflies in the world, and the largest in Australia; the wingspan can reach 27 cm. It has the most large area wings among butterflies - up to 263.2 cm2.
We talked about the world's largest butterfly. Below are photographs of butterflies sitting on flowers. They are not as large as the tropical cutworm, but they are very beautiful.