Blue Nawab vs Broad-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Blue Nawab Broad-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth
Scientific Name Polyura schreiber Hemaris fuciformis
Order Lepidoptera Lepidoptera
Family Nymphalidae Sphingidae
Size 80-100 mm wingspan 38-48 mm wingspan
Habitat Forests Underground
Diet Dung Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar) Europe, Asia, North Africa
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Blue Nawab

A powerful and fast-flying butterfly with a pale bluish-white upper surface and intricate brown and orange undersides. It has distinctive short tails on the hindwings and a rapid, gliding flight.

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Did You Know?

Unlike many butterflies, the Blue Nawab rarely visits flowers and instead prefers fermenting fruit and animal dung for nutrients.

Broad-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth

A day-flying sphinx moth with transparent wings that mimic a bumblebee. The scales on its wings fall off on its first flight, leaving clear panels that enhance the bee illusion.

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Did You Know?

This moth deliberately sheds its wing scales on its maiden flight to become transparent — one of the only moths that intentionally destroys its own wing coloring.