Butterflies & Moths
Order Lepidoptera
809 speciesKnown for their large, often colorful wings covered in tiny scales. Lepidoptera undergo complete metamorphosis through egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages.
Species in this Order
Abbott's Sphinx Moth
Sphecodina abbottii
A unique hawk moth with scalloped brown wings and a yellow and brown banded body resembling a large ...
Abisara echerius
Abisara echerius
Dark brown butterfly with purple sheen and a short tail on each hindwing. One of the few Asian riodi...
Achemon Sphinx Moth
Eumorpha achemon
A robust hawk moth with pink and tan-brown forewings and bright pink hindwings. It is closely relate...
Achilles Morpho
Morpho achilles
A medium-sized morpho with a bright blue band across dark brown-black wings. It flies rapidly throug...
Acorn Moth
Blastobasis glandulella
A small moth whose larvae bore into and consume the contents of acorns on the forest floor. It is co...
Acraea Butterfly
Acraea acerata
A medium-sized butterfly with translucent orange wings and dark veins, giving it a delicate, window-...
Adonis Blue
Lysandra bellargus
Males are an intense sky-blue with a chequered fringe; females are brown. Restricted to chalk and li...
African Armyworm
Spodoptera exempta
A migratory pest moth whose caterpillars march in vast armies across cereal crops and grasslands in ...
African Bush Brown Butterfly
Bicyclus anynana
A small brown butterfly with prominent eyespots on the wing undersides that vary seasonally. Wet sea...
African Commodore Butterfly
Precis pelarga
A medium-sized butterfly with warm orange-brown wings and subtle eyespots near the wing margins. It ...
African Emperor Moth
Bunaea caffraria
A large African saturniid with warm brown wings bearing conspicuous eyespots edged in pink and black...
African Giant Swallowtail
Papilio antimachus
The largest butterfly in Africa with a wingspan of up to 250 mm. It flies at great heights in the ca...
African Grass Blue
Zizeeria knysna
Tiny blue butterfly with spotted gray-brown undersides. One of the smallest butterflies in Africa....
African Map Butterfly
Cyrestis camillus
A delicate white butterfly with fine dark lines across its wings resembling a map or circuit board. ...
African Migrant Butterfly
Catopsilia florella
A large white to greenish-yellow pierid butterfly that undertakes massive migrations across Africa. ...
African Moon Moth
Argema mimosae
A large pale green silk moth with long hindwing tails and maroon eyespots on each wing. Males have b...
African Sapphire
Iolaus iulus
Brilliant sapphire-blue upper wings with a dark margin and twin tails on hindwings. Found in African...
African Sugarcane Borer
Eldana saccharina
The most important pest of sugarcane in sub-Saharan Africa. Larvae bore into sugarcane stalks, reduc...
African Wild Silk Moth
Gonometa postica
A medium-sized brown moth whose caterpillars spin tough, golden silk cocoons on Acacia branches. It ...
Alpine Blue
Albulina orbitulus
A small, silvery-blue butterfly found only in high alpine grasslands. Males have pale blue upperside...
Alpine Grizzled Skipper
Pyrgus andromedae
A small, dark skipper butterfly with white checkered markings. It flies low over alpine turf in quic...
Amazon Sphinx Moth
Cocytius antaeus
One of the largest sphinx moths in the Americas with a long, narrow body and pointed wings. Its tong...
Amazonian Dagger Moth
Lophocampa citrina
A yellow and brown spotted tiger moth common in Neotropical forests. Its densely hairy caterpillars ...
Amazonian Uranid Moth
Urania leilus
A day-flying moth with iridescent green, blue, and black bands on swallowtail-shaped wings. It under...
Amber Phantom
Haetera piera
Largely transparent wings with small amber patches and pink-ringed eyespots. Floats through dark for...
Ambulyx Hawk Moth
Ambulyx substrigilis
A large tropical hawk moth with brown and buff-patterned forewings that resemble dead leaves. It is ...
American Moth-Butterfly
Macrosoma heliconiaria
Pale greenish-gray moth-like butterfly with rounded wings and nocturnal habits. Represents the evolu...
Anaxibia Morpho
Morpho anaxibia
An Atlantic Forest endemic Morpho butterfly with blue upperwings bordered by broad black margins con...
Angle Shades
Phlogophora meticulosa
A moth with uniquely crumpled wings in olive, pink, and brown that perfectly resemble a dead leaf. I...
Angola White Lady Swallowtail
Graphium angolanus
A large swallowtail with black-and-white banded wings and a distinctive tail on each hindwing. It is...
Anna's Eighty-Eight
Diaethria anna
A small neotropical butterfly with bright blue-green upper wings and a striking black-and-white nume...
Apollo Butterfly
Parnassius apollo
A large white butterfly with translucent wings bearing red and black eyespots, found on mountain slo...
Apple Leaf Miner
Lyonetia clerkella
A tiny moth whose serpentine leaf mines are visible on apple and cherry leaves. The mine appears as ...
Arctic Clouded Yellow
Colias tyche
A medium-sized butterfly with pale greenish-yellow wings and prominent dark borders. The underside h...
Arctic Fritillary
Boloria chariclea
A small, orange-brown fritillary butterfly of arctic and alpine tundra. Its underside has distinctiv...
Arctic Grayling
Oeneis bore
A pale grayish-brown butterfly with a translucent, papery wing quality and subtle darker striations....
Arctic Ringlet
Erebia disa
A dark brown ringlet butterfly of arctic and alpine bogs. It flies low over sedge tussocks in a slow...
Arctic Sulphur
Colias nastes
A pale greenish-white butterfly with dusky wing margins and small dark discal spots. Its subdued col...
Arctic Tiger Moth
Grammia quenseli
A striking moth with black and cream striped forewings and orange-red hindwings with black spots. Th...
Arctic Tussock Moth
Dicallomera fascelina
A medium-sized moth with pale grayish-white wings in males and larger, more robust females. The cate...
Arctic Woolly Bear Caterpillar Moth
Gynaephora rossii
A close relative of the Greenland woolly bear, this moth has pale gray wings and a densely furred bo...
Arctic Woolly Bear Moth
Gynaephora groenlandica
A medium-sized moth whose caterpillar is famous for its extremely long development. Adults are gray-...
Argent and Sable Moth
Rheumaptera hastata
A strikingly patterned black and white day-flying moth. Found on moorland and in birch woodland. Has...
Asian Comma Butterfly
Polygonia c-aureum
Known as 'ki-tataha' in Japanese, this butterfly has distinctively jagged wing edges that provide ex...
Asiatic Rice Borer
Chilo suppressalis
A major pest of rice across Asia, where larvae bore into tillers and stems. Heavy infestations cause...
Atlas Blue Butterfly
Polyommatus atlanticus
A small blue butterfly restricted to high-altitude cedar forests in Morocco....
Atlas Moth
Attacus atlas
One of the largest moths in the world by wing area. Adults have no mouths and do not eat, living onl...
August Thorn
Ennomos quercinaria
A thorn moth flying in late summer with warm yellow-brown wings. Rests with wings spread flat. Larva...
Aurora Morpho
Morpho aurora
A relatively small Morpho butterfly with a distinctive reddish-orange band across its dark brown win...
Australian Grapevine Moth
Phalaenoides glycinae
A day-flying moth closely related to Joseph's Coat Moth, with dark wings bearing white and orange sp...
Australian Magpie Moth
Nyctemera amica
A striking day-flying black and white moth from Australasia. Caterpillars feed on groundsel and ragw...
Australian Painted Lady
Vanessa kershawi
An orange, black, and white butterfly closely related to the cosmopolitan painted lady. It undertake...
Autumnal Moth
Epirrita autumnata
A grayish-brown moth with faint wavy crosslines on the forewings. It flies in autumn in subarctic bi...
Banana Moth
Opogona sacchari
A small tropical moth whose larvae bore into banana stems and stored tubers....
Banded Hairstreak
Satyrium calanus
A small dark brown butterfly with conspicuous bands of white-edged dark dashes on its hindwing under...
Banded Peacock
Papilio crino
A stunning swallowtail with emerald green bands on velvety black wings. The hindwings have red and b...
Banded Peacock Butterfly
Anartia fatima
A medium-sized butterfly with dark brown wings crossed by a broad creamy-white band and orange wing ...
Banded Swallowtail
Papilio demolion
A medium-large swallowtail with dark brown-black wings bearing a broad pale greenish-yellow band acr...
Banded Treebrown
Lethe confusa
A shade-loving brown butterfly with a distinctive pale band across the forewing and a series of smal...
Baronia Swallowtail
Baronia brevicornis
The most primitive living swallowtail butterfly, restricted to a small area of southwestern Mexico. ...
Barred Red Moth
Hylaea fasciaria
A reddish-brown moth with a broad darker band across the forewings. It is closely associated with co...
Bath White
Pontia daplidice
A white butterfly with bold green marbling on the underside of its hindwings. It is a rare migrant t...
Beautiful Snout
Hypena crassalis
A moth with long palps forming a snout-like projection and warm purple-brown wings crossed by pale l...
Bedstraw Hawk Moth
Hyles gallii
A striking hawk moth with olive-green forewings bearing a buff median band and pink hindwings. It is...
Bee Moth
Aphomia sociella
A robust pinkish-brown moth whose larvae are nest parasites of bumblebees and wasps. Females enter b...
Bee-fly Hawk Moth
Macroglossum bombylans
A small day-flying hawk moth that mimics a bumblebee with its furry body and buzzing flight. It visi...
Beet Armyworm
Spodoptera exigua
A small grayish-brown moth whose green caterpillars attack a wide range of vegetable and field crops...
Bella Moth
Utetheisa ornatrix
A brightly colored moth with pink-orange forewings covered in white and black spots. It sequesters t...
Bhutan Glory
Bhutanitis lidderdalii
A spectacular swallowtail from the eastern Himalayas with multiple tail streamers and intricate blac...
Birdwing Butterfly
Ornithoptera alexandrae
The largest butterfly in the world with a wingspan up to 31 cm. Found only in a small area of Papua ...
Bitter Blue
Theclinesthes miskini
Small blue and brown butterfly with spotted gray undersides. Commonly found around its host plant in...
Black Arches
Lymantria monacha
A striking moth with white wings boldly marked with black zigzag lines and a pink-flushed abdomen. I...
Black Cutworm
Agrotis ipsilon
A dull brown moth whose soil-dwelling caterpillars sever young seedlings at ground level during the ...
Black Jungle Queen
Stichophthalma howqua
A large, powerful butterfly with dark brown to black upper wings and elaborately patterned underside...
Black Swallowtail
Papilio polyxenes
Black butterfly with yellow spot bands and blue hindwing patches; orange and black eyespot on each h...
Black Witch Moth
Ascalapha odorata
One of the largest moths in the Western Hemisphere, with dark brown to black wings marked with subtl...
Black-waved Flannel Moth
Megalopyge crispata
A fluffy white to yellowish moth with wavy dark lines across the forewings. Like its relative the pu...
Blackburn's Sphinx Moth
Manduca blackburni
The largest native insect in Hawaii, this sphinx moth has a wingspan up to 120 mm. It was once wides...
Blind Ringlet
Erebia pharte
A small, dark ringlet butterfly with reduced or absent eyespots. It flies in damp alpine meadows dur...
Blinded Sphinx Moth
Paonias excaecata
A bark-patterned hawk moth with brown forewings and blue hindwing eyespots that lack the central pup...
Blood-red Cymothoe
Cymothoe sangaris
A strikingly sexually dimorphic butterfly where males are vivid blood-red and females are brown with...
Blood-vein Moth
Timandra comae
A delicate pinkish-cream moth with a distinctive reddish-pink diagonal line crossing each wing. It r...
Blue Doctor Butterfly
Rhetus periander
A large metalmark butterfly with brilliant metallic blue upperwings and distinctive red-spotted unde...
Blue Metalmark
Lasaia sula
A tiny butterfly with vivid metallic blue upper wings that flash brilliantly in sunlight. It perches...
Blue Mormon
Papilio polymnestor
A large, spectacular swallowtail butterfly with deep black wings overlaid with brilliant blue bands....
Blue Morpho
Morpho menelaus
Renowned for its brilliant iridescent blue wings. The color is not from pigment but from microscopic...
Blue Nawab
Polyura schreiber
A powerful and fast-flying butterfly with a pale bluish-white upper surface and intricate brown and ...
Blue Pansy
Junonia orithya
A medium-sized butterfly with stunning bright blue hindwings bearing large eyespots and brown forewi...
Blue Striped Nettle Grub
Parasa lepida
A small moth with vivid green forewings edged in dark chocolate brown. The caterpillar is bright gre...
Blue Triangle
Graphium sarpedon
A swift-flying black swallowtail with a band of translucent blue-green spots across both wings. It i...
Blue-frosted Banner
Catonephele numilia
A sexually dimorphic butterfly where males are velvety black with bright orange bands and females ar...
Blue-spotted Charaxes
Charaxes ameliae
A stunning forest butterfly with deep black wings adorned with brilliant blue spots. The underside f...
Bogong Moth
Agrotis infusa
A migratory moth that aestivates in alpine caves in enormous aggregations....
Bolas Spider Moth Mimic
Celaenia excavata
An Australian moth whose eggs are so tough they resemble seeds and can survive passage through a bir...
Bordered White
Bupalus piniaria
A sexually dimorphic moth where males are white with brown borders and females are orange-brown. It ...
Box Tree Moth
Cydalima perspectalis
A white moth with iridescent brown wing borders that has become one of Europe's most destructive inv...
Brazilian Skipper
Calpodes ethlius
A robust brown skipper butterfly with translucent white spots on the forewings. Its larvae build lea...
Brazilian Thorn Moth
Cyanopepla huillensis
A day-flying moth with brilliant metallic blue forewings and bright red or orange hindwings, warning...
Bright-eyed Ringlet
Erebia oeme
A dark brown ringlet with prominent white-pupiled eyespots. It frequents damp, grassy slopes in suba...
Bright-line Brown-eye Moth
Lacanobia oleracea
A reddish-brown moth with a prominent white-edged kidney mark and bright white subterminal line. It ...