Beautiful Butterflies

There is a fantastic diversity of Lepidoptera in the tropics and the Atlantic rainforest has a very high diversity. REGUA alone has recorded 570 species but it is thought that this will increase to maybe 800 in years to come as the habitat improves and more research is undertaken.

Unfortunately like many invertebrate taxonomic groups there is very few resources to use for identification. However Regua has its own resident researcher Jorge Bizarro who has produced a leaflet guide to the commoner species and helped publish the field guide to the hawk-moths of the Serra dos Orgaos.

Some of the commoner highlights I have seen include:

Clymena eighty-eight (Diaethria clymena janeria)

Smooth-banded sister (Adelpha cytherea aea)

(Hypothyris ninonia daeta)

(Ithomia drymo) Clearwing

Brazilian or Giant owl (Caligo brasiliensis)

Red cracker (Hamadryas amphinome)

(Hamadryas arête)

(Consul fabius drurii)

Periander swordtail (Rhetus periander eleusinus)

 

Anchises cattleheart (Parides anchises nephalion)

Helenor morpho (Morpho helenor achillaena)

 

One of the most impressive moths that I have found was this roosting white witch that I flushed from a tree on the Sao Jose trail one morning. When it took off it looked like a small owl, before landing back on another tree, hoping its camouflage will prevent it from being eaten. This species may be the moth with the largest wingspan in the world as it reaches 31 cm.  

White witch moth (Thysania Agrippina)