Types of butterflies in Russia. Types of butterflies: appearance, varieties, structure of the insect Large butterfly with black and yellow color

Butterflies ... These delightful creatures have inspired artists and poets at all times. They captivate with their beauty and lightness. You can probably spend hours watching the flight of butterflies, the flutter of their delicate wings and smooth movement. Some types of butterflies are often found in our latitudes and therefore seem quite familiar and less attractive. But there are hundreds of thousands of species of butterflies in the world.

In Japan they say: “To see a butterfly in your house is fortunate!”

The most beautiful butterflies

It is impossible to give a single answer to the question which of the butterflies is the most beautiful. Each of them is unique and good in its own way. But, of course, a surprise gift in the form of bright, colorful butterflies can fill the room with magic! You can choose and buy butterflies at low prices on this site with delivery in Moscow. Such a gift will be unforgettable! I wonder which butterflies are regularly included in the lists of the most beautiful? Below will be presented the most beautiful butterflies in the world with names, as well as photos of beautiful rare butterflies.

Butterfly Prince

This insect is considered the largest night butterfly. Its front wings are curved in such a way that they imitate the head of a snake, which scares away enemies. This natural feature allows the insect to survive. Such a coloring of a butterfly of a person, of course, does not frighten, but rather delights. Indeed, how inventive nature can be!

The peculiarity of these butterflies is that their mouth apparatus is not at all developed. "But how do they eat?" - many will think. The thing is that they live only one or two weeks and exist thanks to the processing of fat reserves accumulated in the cocoon.

Butterfly Birdwing

This butterfly also reaches large sizes, but it is active during the day, which is why it is called diurnal. Such interesting name the insect received thanks to its amplitude, like a bird's wingspan, which can reach 32 cm.
The birdwing is considered one of the rarest species of butterflies. It lives only in a small town in New Guinea. Because of this, the Birdwing is a valuable specimen for many collectors.
The wings of the male Birdwing shine blue and green, outwardly even somewhat reminiscent of leaves. tropical plants. But the females are less bright, their wings are painted in black, cream and yellowish colors.

Butterfly Urania

This motley tropical butterfly lives in Madagascar. Urania has a truly marvelous color. Separate parts of the wings are colored with black pigment, colorless scales lie between them. These scales refract light, making the butterflies appear colorful and change color depending on which angle you look at them from.
In Madagascar Urania, orange, red and purple colors. Interestingly, the pattern on the wings may not be symmetrical, which is due to the influence of external factors at the pupal stage.

Butterfly Greta

Translated into Russian, the name of this butterfly sounds like "glass". This name is absolutely justified, because its wings are transparent, as if made of glass, and only on the periphery are bordered with a black-brown ribbon. This insect is found in the Central and South America. It is believed that the butterfly is very common in this region, but it is not at all easy to notice it, because it is almost transparent. This is an excellent camouflage that allows butterflies to hide from predators.

Butterfly Kallima

Callima can be found in the tropics of Asia and Africa. This species of butterflies is primarily interesting for the unusual contour of its wings. The upper wings of the butterflies are painted in stripes of black, orange and blue, harmoniously flowing into each other.
But how bright they are during the flight, they become so invisible when they sit down on the foliage and fold their wings. The thing is that the reverse surface of the wings is painted in a greenish color, which allows the Callima so successfully to disguise itself as foliage.

Butterfly Parides Arkas

These are butterflies from the sailboat family, of medium size. The body and wings of the insect are black, with scarlet and blue spots. These are very active butterflies that will fly around the room, and when they sit down somewhere, they will continue to open and close their wings. Amazing, fragile creatures that can captivate anyone with their beauty!

Butterfly blue Morpho

This butterfly is of medium size, its wingspan is usually no more than fifteen millimeters. But she captivated people not at all with these parameters, but with her amazing beauty. Wing scales are located in a special way, reflecting the sun's rays, making it seem as if the butterfly is all glowing.
When an insect sits, it seems that its wings are saturated of blue color with black border. But in fact, this is not the true color of the butterfly, but a play of light. When the butterfly flies, it shimmers under the sun's rays in different colors, sometimes purple, sometimes greenish. Such an amazing blue Morpho butterfly.

Butterfly Peacock Eye

The Peacock Eye lives in Europe, as well as subtropical zone Eurasia. They are especially common in Germany. As you might guess, this type of butterfly received such a name due to its resemblance to the coloring of peacock feathers. The body of the butterfly is painted black. But the wings are painted orange-brown with characteristic blue colored spots. Miracle peacock butterfly!

Sailboat Maaka

This butterfly is also called the Blue Swallowtail. In the male, most of the front wing is represented by green, even emerald pollination. Part of the wing shimmers in deep black. In females of the Maak Sailboat, the colors are more diverse, it is even considered that there are no two identical butterflies in the world. This is a contented large diurnal butterfly, the size of its wings can reach thirteen centimeters.

Butterfly Hypolymnas bolina

Hypolyminas bolina live in Southeast Asia, as well as Australia. These small butterflies are often called tiaras because of the bright blue, red and white hues of their wings, like diamonds in the crown shimmer.
If you look at the butterfly from above, its wings are black, lighter on the outer edge. Males have white spots on their wings, which shimmer purple when exposed to sunlight.

How many days do butterflies live at home?

It is certainly very pleasant to receive butterflies as a gift. But I really want these wonderful creatures to please with their beauty for as long as possible! How many days do butterflies live at home? On average, life expectancy ranges from a few days to several weeks. This of course depends on the type of butterfly, but also on the conditions of their habitat. How to properly care for butterflies?

1. Comfortable temperature for the existence of butterflies +20 degrees.
2. Most butterflies love moisture, so it is necessary to spray the insect with a spray bottle several times a day. It is enough to make one or two pressing at a distance of 20-30 centimeters.
3. Butterflies can fly around the room, sit down where it suits them. But if you want to take it, take it by the body, at the base of the wings. Remember, these are very fragile creatures.
4. Butterflies feed on sugar syrup, crushed bananas or citrus fruits. It is enough to feed the butterfly once a day. To do this, gently take the insect by the body and plant it with your paws on the edge of the saucer with the prepared delicacy. When the butterfly feels the treat, it will straighten its proboscis and begin to eat.

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Butterfly belongs to the class of insects, type arthropods, order Lepidoptera (lat. Lepidoptera).

The Russian name "butterfly" comes from the Old Slavonic word "babаka", denoting the concept of "old woman" or "grandmother". In the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, it was believed that these were the souls of the dead, so people treated them with respect.

Butterfly: description and photo. The structure and appearance of butterflies

In the structure of a butterfly, two main sections are distinguished - a body protected by a hard chitinous shell and wings.

A butterfly is an insect whose body consists of:

• Head, inactively connected to the chest. The head of a butterfly has a rounded shape with a slightly flattened occiput. Round or oval convex eyes of a butterfly in the form of hemispheres, occupying most of the lateral surface of the head, have a complex facet structure. Butterflies have color vision, and moving objects perceive better than stationary ones. Many species have additional simple parietal eyes behind the antennae. The structure of the oral apparatus depends on the species and can be of a sucking or gnawing type.

• Breast having a three-segment structure. The front part is much smaller than the middle and back, where there are three pairs of legs, which have a structure characteristic of insects. On the shins of the front legs of the butterfly there are spurs designed to maintain the hygiene of the antennae.
• The abdomen has the shape of an elongated cylinder, consisting of ten ring-shaped segments with spiracles located on them.

Butterfly structure

The antennae of a butterfly are located on the border of the parietal and frontal parts of the head. They help butterflies to navigate in the environment, perceiving air vibrations and various smells.

The length and structure of the antennae depend on the species.

Two pairs of butterfly wings, covered with flat scales of various shapes, have a membranous structure and are pierced by transverse and longitudinal veins. The size of the hind wings can be the same as the front wings or much smaller than them. The pattern of butterfly wings varies from species to species and captivates with its beauty.

When macro photography, the scales on the wings of butterflies are very clearly visible - they can have completely different shape and color.

Butterfly wings - macro photography

The appearance and coloration of the butterfly's wings serve not only for intraspecific sexual recognition, but also act as a protective camouflage that allows you to blend in with your surroundings. Therefore, colors can be both monochrome and variegated with a complex pattern.

The size of a butterfly, or better to say the wingspan of a butterfly, can range from 2 mm to 31 cm.

Classification and types of butterflies

The numerous detachment of Lepidoptera includes more than 158 thousand representatives. There are several classification systems for butterflies, quite complex and intricate, with changes constantly taking place in them. The most successful is the scheme that divides this detachment into four suborders:

1) Primary toothed moths. These are small butterflies with a wingspan of 4 to 15 mm, with gnawing mouthparts and antennae that reach up to 75% of the size of the forewings in length. The family consists of 160 species of butterflies.

Typical representatives are:

• golden small-winged (lat. Micropteryx calthella);
• small-winged marigold (lat. Micropteryx calthella).

2) Proboscis butterflies. The wingspan of these insects, covered with dark small scales with cream or black spots, does not exceed 25 mm. Until 1967, they were classified as primary toothed moths, with which this family has much in common.

The most famous butterflies from this suborder:

• flour fire (lat. Asopia farinalis L..),
• moth fir cones(lat. Dioryctrica abieteila).

3) Heterobatmia, represented by one family Heterobathmiidae.

4) Proboscis butterflies, which make up the most numerous suborder, consisting of several dozen families, which include more than 150 thousand species of butterflies. The appearance and size of the representatives of this suborder is very diverse. Below are several families that demonstrate the diversity of proboscis butterflies.

• Sailboat family, represented by medium and large butterflies with a wingspan of 50 to 280 mm. The pattern on the wings of butterflies consists of black, red or blue spots. various shapes, clearly visible against a white or yellow background. The most famous of them are:
  1. Butterfly swallowtail;
  2. Sailboat "Glory of Bhutan";
  3. Birdwing of Queen Alexandra and others.

Butterfly swallowtail

• Nymphalidae family, feature which is the absence of thickened veins on wide angular wings with variegated coloration and various patterns. Butterfly wingspan varies from 50 to 130 mm. Representatives of this family are:
  1. Butterfly admiral;
  2. Butterfly diurnal peacock eye;
  3. Butterfly urticaria;
  4. Butterfly mourning, etc.

Butterfly Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Butterfly diurnal peacock eye

Butterfly urticaria (Aglais urticae)

Butterfly mourner

• , represented by night butterflies with narrow wings, the span of which does not exceed 13 cm and is distinguished by a characteristic pattern. The abdomen of these insects is thickened and spindle-shaped. The most famous butterflies of this family:
  1. Hawk hawk "dead head";
  2. Oleander hawk;
  3. Poplar hawk.

• Owl family, which includes more than 35,000 species of night butterflies. The span of gray with a metallic shade of fluffy wings averages 35 mm. However, in South America there is a species of butterflies tizania agrippina with a wingspan of 31 cm or atlas peacock-eye, the size of which resembles a medium-sized bird.

Where do butterflies live in nature?

The distribution range of butterflies on the planet is very wide. It does not include only the ice expanses of Antarctica. Butterflies live everywhere from North America and Greenland to the coast of Australia and the island of Tasmania. The largest number species found in Peru and India. These fluttering insects make their flights not only in the flowering valleys, but also high in the mountains.

What do butterflies eat?

The diet of many butterflies consists of pollen and nectar from flowering plants. Many species of butterflies feed on tree sap, overripe and rotting fruit. And the dead head hawk moth is a real gourmet, because it often flies into hives and regales itself on the honey they have collected.

Some Nymphalidae butterflies need various trace elements and additional moisture. Their source is excrement, urine and sweat of large animals, wet clay, and human sweat.

These butterflies include the Madagascar comet, whose wingspan is 14-16 cm. The life expectancy of this butterfly is 2-3 days.

Also among the butterflies there are "vampires". For example, males of some species of cutworms maintain their strength thanks to the blood and tear fluid of animals. Such is the vampire butterfly (lat. Calyptra).

Most people associate butterflies with summer and flowers. There is no such person in the world who has never seen this miracle of nature. And many are interested in the question: “What types of butterflies are there and how many families do these beautiful creatures have?”.

This article will answer all questions.

All about butterflies

Butterfly- This is an insect of the arthropod type, the order of Lepidoptera.

The ancient Slavs believed that the souls of the dead inhabit butterflies, so they treated these insects with special respect.

Appearance and structure

Butterfly consists of two sections:

• Body covered with chitinous layer.
• Two pairs of wings, which are covered with scales and pierced with veins in the transverse and longitudinal direction. The pattern on the wings depends on the species. The wingspan, depending on the species, can be from 3 mm to 310 mm.

Body structure:

The appearance of a butterfly can serve to protection insect from enemies. Indeed, due to the coloring, some butterflies merge with environment and become invisible.

Types of butterflies with a brief description

Butterflies have more than 200 families, only a small part of the most popular are listed below:

Whites:

Cocoonworm family

Butterflies belonging to this family are large or medium in size. The body is powerful, covered with villi. This family is more like moths than butterflies. The front fenders are different. big size compared to the rear. The antennae are like brushes. They live in groups on woody plants. Some species are very harmful to forestry.

pigeon family

It has more than 5 thousand species, some of which are listed in Red Book. All species of this family are small in size with bright colors. Males are brighter in color than females. The color of the coat depends on the species and can be bright blue or brown. For example, the Icarus pigeon has a bright blue color.

A distinctive feature of all pigeons are the spots located on the lower wings. Dovetails do not harm, and sometimes even benefit by scaring away insect pests.

parsley family

This family contains over 1200 species. Most species can be found in tropical countries, but a small part lives in Russia. Pestryanka have interesting coloring. On a shiny black or dark blue background, there are spots of bright red or bright yellow. But there are also species with a single color.

The appearance of the insect warns that it poisonously and, when threatened, emits a poisonous liquid with a pungent odor. In size, the butterfly can reach up to 50 mm in length. They are mostly diurnal, but are occasionally seen at night. It feeds on the leaves of legumes.

Volnyanki

These butterflies are very harmful to forestry. It has over 2700 species. The butterfly is of medium size. One of the most known species is gypsy moth. This insect got its name because of the significant differences in the size of the male and female.

For example, males have a wingspan of 45 mm, the female has 7.5 cm. And also males are much darker than females. In males, the wings are painted dark brown with black shear waves. The female is gray-white with dark waves.

Butterflies have a velvety texture and black color with a span of 50–60 mm. In the corners of the front wings there are white spots, which are separated by a strip of red. The same stripe is located on the edge of the lower wings.

A beautiful European diurnal insect. The wingspan is 150 mm. The whole color is red-brown in color with a bizarre pattern similar to a peacock eye. On the upper wings in the corners there is one spot.

And on the lower each wing there is one black spot, in the middle of which there is another blue spot. Those spots that look like eyes scare away enemies butterflies.

Velvet

The color of this diurnal butterfly is quite modest. It has a brown or red color with a pattern of white and black rings. Feeds on cereals wild plants and loves shade.

Machaon belongs to the family sailboats and listed in the Red Book. Coloring comes in different colors, but the most beautiful is the swallowtail, which has a yellow color. On the wings is visible wide black line with moon-shaped spots on the edges. The hind wings have an elongated blue tail with yellow-blue spots. There is a red spot in the bottom corner.

There are many more species that you can talk about endlessly and write several volumes of books. This article contains only the smallest part of them.

Butterflies are like flying flowers, which in their beauty cannot be compared with any other insect on the planet. It is incredibly difficult to imagine how such a complex and unique beauty can be obtained from a vile caterpillar.

Butterflies were collected by many famous people such as Vladimir Nabokov, Ivan Pavlov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Nikolai Bukharin, Walter Rothschild. Vladimir Nabokov named 20 newly discovered species of butterflies. His collection consisted of 4324 thousand. Subsequently, he gave it to the Zoological Museum of the University of Lausanne.

Let's see the most beautiful butterflies of our planet together. This butterfly is a representative of the Saturniidae family (Peacock-eyes, or Saturnia):

The largest wingspan belongs to the Brazilian butterfly Agrippina - 30 cm.

The smallest wingspan encountered by researchers is in Acetoseia from England and Radiculosis from canary islands- 2 mm. Queen Alexandra's ornithoptella is rare view butterflies that are in danger of extinction. The female of this butterfly is slightly larger than the male. (The life of these insects lasts no more than 3 months).

Maak's sailboat is the largest diurnal butterfly living in Russia. It is also called the tailed poppy and the blue swallowtail. The name of this species is associated with the naturalist Richard Karlovich, Maak, who for a long time studied Siberia and the Far East.

The largest moth Europe and Russia - Peacock-eyed pear. Its wingspan reaches 15 cm.

This is the Madagascar Comet, or, as it is also called, the Lunar Moth. The largest butterfly on the planet, if measured in length.

Peacock-eyed Atlas, she is also called the prince of darkness. One of the largest butterflies in the world. The wingspan reaches 26 cm.

Urania Madagascar. The habitat of this butterfly, with a wingspan of 10 cm, is Madagascar.

Checkerboard atalia.

Some butterflies live only a few days, but the monk butterfly can live 6 months. She can cover 1000 km without stopping.

The tail is royal.

Scoops are unusual night butterflies. How many varieties of scoop exist in nature and what do they look like? Our photos and description of the insect will tell you about this.

Scoops or nights - big family lepidoptera insects. There are more than 35 thousand species of scoops. About 1800 species live in Europe, and more than 1500 species in Russia. Scoops are found in various parts of the world. Any climate is suitable for their life. Scoops feel great in deserts, mountains and tundra conditions.

Scoop Description

There are large types of scoops and very small ones. At large species the wingspan can reach 130 millimeters, but there are also such small species that have a wingspan of no more than 10 millimeters.

Morphological features of the scoop

The head of the scoop is round, the forehead is characteristically convex, in some individuals, on the contrary, there are depressions on the forehead.

In females, the antennae have a simple structure, they are filiform or comb-shaped, sometimes they can be framed by fluffy cilia. The structure of the antennae of males is more complex.

Scoops living in the mountains have elliptical or kidney-shaped eyes. Some species of individuals have simple eyes. The proboscis is well developed, in a calm state it is twisted. In some species, the proboscis is reduced. The surface of the proboscis is covered with "taste cones".

Among scoops there are "bloodthirsty" exceptions - individuals live in the tropics that feed on the lacrimal glands of mammals and their blood. Only males are bloodthirsty, they have a reinforced proboscis. In females, the proboscis is undeveloped, so their diet is more “dietary”, they extract juice from fruits and plants.

The palps of scoops can be short or elongated. The head, thorax, and abdomen are often covered with scales and hairs. In addition, scoops may have tufts of hairs.

Spurs are often located on the shins, other species have claws and spikes. The shape of the wings is almost triangular, sometimes it can be elongated, and rarely rounded. At certain types scoop wings are long and narrow, such wings allow butterflies to fly long distances. At mountain views the wings are short, and sometimes they can be completely reduced.

The body of the scoop is full, covered with thick hairs. On the wings there is a pattern of spots, the spots are rounded, wedge-shaped and kidney-shaped. Some species have spots of silver and golden hues on the wings. Hind wings can be yellowish, blue, red and white. Scoops that live in a climate with a colorful nature often have a peculiar pattern on their wings and body.

Scoop development

There is a wide variety of scoops, so life cycle different types varies greatly.

Caterpillars have up to 6 instars, during which up to 5 molts pass. Northern and mountain varieties generally have a two-year life cycle. Caterpillars pupate in the ground litter, in the soil or in plant tissues. Mostly pupae hibernate, but caterpillars of middle or older age can also hibernate. In warm areas, cutworms develop continuously, several generations are formed per year. In winter, they plunge into a "cold stupor".

The eggs are hemispherical in shape. The surface of the eggs is cellular or ribbed. Female moths lay their eggs on the ground. The fecundity of females can reach about 2 thousand eggs.

The caterpillar has a naked body, but it may have primary setae, and in some cases secondary setae. The body color of the caterpillars is green, yellow or brown. There are longitudinal stripes on the body. Sometimes false legs can be located on the abdominal segment. Scoop caterpillars are active at night, and during the day they lead a hidden lifestyle. In some species, caterpillars are predators; they additionally feed on scale insects and scale insects.

Harm from scoops

Scoop caterpillars are divided into intrastem, gnawing and leaf-eating. Most caterpillars feed on plant sap, some species eat plant litter, mosses and lichens. In addition, caterpillars damage fruits, flowers, and sometimes eat grains in storage. Scoops are agricultural pests.

exclamation owl

These pests spoil potatoes, onions, carrots, peas, corn, beets, lettuce, turnips, sunflowers and strawberries. They destroy tubers and roots, after which the plants die.

The larvae of the exclamation armyworm spend most of their time in the ground, but at the top they can feed on leaves. The wingspan of an adult owl is 30-40 millimeters. The color varies from dark brown to light gray.

Alfalfa armyworm

These scoops are pests of agricultural plantings. Lucerne scoops live throughout the territory of the Russian Federation. They damage plantings of soybeans, flax, corn and alfalfa.

The wingspan of these butterflies reaches 38 millimeters. The wings are gray-green in color.

The pupae of alfalfa scoops spend the winter in the soil. The flight of adult butterflies takes place in May-June. Scoops living in forest-steppe zones develop 2 generations.

stem cutworm

These scoops damage crops of cereal crops. Stem cutworms live in steppe zone Siberia. These pests damage rye, wheat, corn and oats.

Butterflies scoop of this species in length reach 38 millimeters. The wings are yellowish-white, a light stripe runs through the center. The pupae are black-brown in color, they are 15 millimeters long.

Caterpillars of stem scoops gnaw through the bases of the stems, settle down inside the stem and suck out the juices of plants. From such wrecking, the plants dry out, and the ears do not ripen.

The flight of stem scoops takes place in June-July. Females lay eggs of medium size, in oviposition their number reaches 130 pieces. In one season, one generation of stem scoop develops.

spring scoop

This type of scoop damages cereal crops. Spring scoops live in the steppes and forests of Russia. Pests devastate plantings of barley, oats, wheat and corn. In length, these butterflies reach 34 millimeters.

The wings are rusty-brown in color and may have an orange or white blotch. Females lay about 500 eggs. The spring cutworm has one generation per year.

Pea cutworm

The butterfly measures no more than 42 millimeters. Forewings blackish-brown. There are transverse lines on the wings. The caterpillars are yellow in color, the body size of the caterpillars reaches 4 millimeters.

Flight at pea scoops takes place in June-September. These butterflies feed on succulent plants. One female lays up to 400 eggs. The caterpillars eat the leaves. 2 generations develop per year.

sage scoop

These butterflies are pests of essential oil crops. Sage scoops are found wherever there is sage, lavender, mint, and other similar crops.

The wingspan of a butterfly reaches 40 millimeters. The forewings are yellow-gray, the hindwings are lighter.

The flight of these butterflies takes place in April-July. The fecundity of females is up to 600 eggs. Caterpillars damage leaves, ovaries, buds and pedicels. They begin to damage plants from top to bottom. 3 generations develop per year.

Scoop bluehead

Blueheads damage fruit crops. They live all over Russia. Harm is caused to pears, apple trees, cherries, cherries, apricots, mountain ash, poplar, almonds, oak, blackthorn, hawthorn and hazel.

Butterfly sizes reach 50 millimeters. The wings of these scoops have a purple hue, they are dotted with brown spots and lines. The dimensions of the caterpillar reach 34 millimeters. The pupa is 17 mm long. This type of scoop has one generation per year.

Yellow-brown early armyworm

This type of scoop is especially harmful to fruit crops. Early scoops live almost throughout Russia. Pests damage raspberries, apple trees, cherries, pears, plums, peaches and various forest species.

Butterflies in length reach 35 millimeters. The color of the front wings is yellowish with a white stripe, the hind wings have a fringe. The body length of the caterpillars reaches 40 millimeters, and the pupae - 15 millimeters.

Females of early scoops bring up to 900 eggs. Caterpillars of these scoops destroy ovaries and leaves.

scoop gamma

These pests are polyphagous. They are widespread in Russia everywhere. Gamma cutworms damage field crops such as beets, potatoes, flax, hemp, legumes and the like.

Butterflies are up to 48 millimeters in size. The forewings can be purple to gray in color and have a "gamma" spot on them, hence the name. These scoops fly during the day and feed on flower nectar. One female brings 500-1500 eggs. In a year, 2 generations of scale scoops can develop.