Chinese Windmill vs Green Oak Tortrix

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Chinese Windmill Green Oak Tortrix
Scientific Name Atrophaneura alcinous Tortrix viridana
Order Lepidoptera Lepidoptera
Family Papilionidae Tortricidae
Size Wingspan 75-100mm 20-24 mm wingspan
Habitat Underground Woodlands
Diet Herbivores Herbivores
Regions Asia Europe, Western Asia, North Africa
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Chinese Windmill

A dark swallowtail butterfly with crimson patches on the hindwings and a slow fluttering flight. The body is red indicating toxicity.

💡

Did You Know?

Its slow fluttering flight resembles a windmill and advertises its toxicity acquired from poisonous aristolochia plants.

Green Oak Tortrix

A small bright green moth with pale hindwings that is the most important oak defoliator in Europe. Outbreak years can turn whole oak canopies brown by June.

💡

Did You Know?

Defoliation by this moth has shaped oak woodland ecology for thousands of years.