The Madagascan sunset moth is a day-flying
moth of the
Uraniidae family. It is considered to be one of the most impressive and beautiful
Lepidoptera. Famous worldwide, it is featured in most
coffee table books on the Lepidoptera and is much sought after by collectors. It is very colourful, though the
iridescent parts of the
wings do not have pigment; rather, the colours originate from
optical interference. The moth was considered to be a
butterfly by
Dru Drury, who described it in 1773 and placed it in the genus Papilio.
Jacob Hübner placed it in the moth genus Chrysiridia in 1823. Later redescriptions led to
junior synonyms such as Chrysiridia madagascariensis. At first the moth was thought to be from China or
Bengal, but was later found to be
endemic to
Madagascar. It is found throughout the year in most parts of the island, with peak populations between March and August, and smallest numbers between October and December. Females lay about 80 eggs under the leaves of Omphalea spp. The
caterpillars are whitish-yellow with black spots and red feet and are covered in club-ended black
setae.
Silk spun from the mouth helps the caterpillars hold onto smooth leaves and climb back to the plant when they fall. (
more...)
... that
Kookaburra gold medalist Jamie Dwyer met his girlfriend while playing professional field hockey in the Netherlands?
... that "Do Ya Thang" was described as a return to
Rihanna's roots, which were notably present in the songs from her first studio album Music of the Sun?
2001 –
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey(artist's conception pictured), currently the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, launched from
Cape Canaveral.
The Upland Sandpiper(Bartramia longicauda) is a large
sandpiper species, closely related to the
curlews, found across central North America and Alaska. Unlike other members of its
family, it is not associated with water, but instead lives in fields and open
grassland. It is a long-distance
migrant and winters in South America.
This Wikipedia is written in
English. Started in 2001 (2001), it currently contains
3,915,388 articles. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.