Common Tree Nymph vs Tongan Ground Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Common Tree Nymph Tongan Ground Beetle
Scientific Name Idea stolli Mecyclothorax tonganus
Order Lepidoptera Coleoptera
Family Nymphalidae Carabidae
Size 130-170 mm wingspan 5-8 mm
Habitat Forests Forests
Diet Nectar Feeders Detritivores
Regions Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Borneo, Sulawesi, Philippines, Maluku) Tonga
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

Common Tree Nymph

A very large butterfly with translucent white wings heavily veined and spotted in black. It flies with a slow, lazy, paper-kite fluttering motion through the forest understory.

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Did You Know?

Its slow, floating flight advertises its toxicity to predators - the caterpillars store alkaloids from their host plants that persist into adulthood.

Tongan Ground Beetle

A small ground beetle endemic to Tonga found in native forest leaf litter. It is a fast-running nocturnal predator of small invertebrates.

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Did You Know?

Pacific island ground beetles have diversified into hundreds of species across isolated archipelagos.