some tropical leps

[aaarg]

i volunteer at a butterfly room and sometimes i take some decent photos of pretty animals. i find the group boring, personally, and also really prefer interacting with local biodiversity... but volunteering is cool!

we only get three species of moth, and it must be moon moth season 'cause we've been getting lots of these beauties. here's a male argema mimosae

you can tell the males from the females easily, the males have large feathered antennae (females also have feathered antennae but they're not nearly as wide)

they've got these fantastic tails

blue morpho butterflies are showy af, their wings are covered in iridescent blue scales and they are very active fliers in butterfly exhibits. very popular in collections as well - generally pinned with the brilliant blue side exposed... but i'm more accustomed to the other side

here's another morpho that didn't have such luck, one of its legs is janky beyond functioning and its proboscis didn't connect!

 

[aaarg]

Athyma perius, cute cute cute lil butterfly with a shiny & pointy chrysalis

this is Archaeoprepona meander, and that brief flash of neon blue in those fantastic eyespots are just a teaser of the upper side of the wings.

these two belong to the same species - Hypna clytemenstra

this is a dead Hebomoia. it's hard to get pictures of the top side of the wings of these beauties... at least when they're alive. i like the shadow of the proboscis (haaa like the video game).[/img]

 

[PidderPeets]

Beautiful! Please update if/when you come across more beauties like these! Even any unique native species you come across. Lepidoptera are an absolute favorite of mine, so the pictures are very much appreciated!

 

[Smotzer]

Lepidoptera is my favorite order! I am definitely jealous of you!

 

[Smotzer]

If you ever have any of the moon moths die on you, as they will shortly, I would love to get my hands on one and pin it!

 

[SonsofArachne]

Stop it, you're making me think about a greenhouse again.

 

[aaarg]

these guys are released into a 2700 sq ft room that stays at ~80 F. there's a constructed rock wall and water feature, lotsa plants, and some birds (button quail & a few flying birds). it's across the street from a large conservatory, too.


i'll be sure to post more photos as i take 'em!

 

[aaarg]

in my previous post, i included an archaeoprepona species - and here's another!

this is archaeoprepona demophon and here's a close-up of its fuzzy body and thicc proboscis

this one's a pretty blurry cethosia cyane

and some random longwing. i don't even pay enough attention to these guys to know what genus this is - presumably heliconius but they all look alike and have multiple morphs and uhhhwhatever - they cute!!!

here's a vindula dejone

 

[aaarg]

another argema mimosae today

and some chrysalises!
first, a couple of owl butterfly pupae

this is a butterfly very close to emerging from its chrysalis, and you can easily see the adult structures that have been developing in there. the wings are tightly-compacted, but you can see the yellow-looking legs all folded in, just above them are the eyes (and above those - that weird curly dog-ear thing and it's broken equivalent... those seem to just be chrysalis decor or something, useless in the end). the antennae and proboscis go straight down the center, between the legs


surprise extra invert! i don't get to play with these guys but they're cool

some belostomatid finishing off a cricket

 

[BenLeeKing]

in my previous post, i included an archaeoprepona species - and here's another!

this is archaeoprepona demophon and here's a close-up of its fuzzy body and thicc proboscis

Actually I think those might be mislabeled, I think those are A. demophoon with 2 "o"s
In my own search for the distinction, I found that A. demophon has an unbroken line at towards the base of the wings, while it is more jagged and broken up in A. demophoon. A. demophon is also more of a unified tan color, while A. demophoon is more of a grey ish color

 

[aaarg]

cool!
there's an A. demophoon?!? to be fair, at least one of the butterfly farms we source from just sends their Archaeoprepona with just the genus name... maybe that's why.

the labeling here has some issues, ha. i don't know enough about leps to generally notice mistakes, but sometimes we get Protogoniomorpha and they're labeled with an old genus name - Salamis.

 

[BenLeeKing]

cool!
there's an A. demophoon?!? to be fair, at least one of the butterfly farms we source from just sends their Archaeoprepona with just the genus name... maybe that's why.

the labeling here has some issues, ha. i don't know enough about leps to generally notice mistakes, but sometimes we get Protogoniomorpha and they're labeled with an old genus name - Salamis.

Yeah, it's very confusing, there is a A. demophon and A. demophoon. I think the place I work at also has both mixed up occasionally. Additionally that Archaeoprepona meander doesn't really look like one, I think it's probably a Prepona instead of Archaeoprepona. (Very confusing indeed)

 

[aaarg]

ah, when my "a. meander" was in the lab, it came in a shipment that also included a Prepona sp. - neither of which had come in before in my time here. so that makes sense!

 

[Ratmosphere]

Wow, very jealous!

 

[aaarg]

an atlas moth

scales!!

 

[aaarg]

two sides of cethosia

i love the four legs of nymphalids. excuse me, i like the forelegs of nymphalids lol

another argema.

failed thyridia showing off adorable antennae