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
Giant Leopard Moth
Hypercompe scribonia
A striking white moth covered in black hollow ring spots with an iridescent blue-black body with ora...
Giant Peacock Moth
Saturnia pyri
Europe's largest moth, with a wingspan up to 16 cm and prominent eyespots on all four wings. Its bro...
Giant Silk Moth
Hyalophora euryalus
A large western North American silk moth with reddish-brown wings featuring bold white crescent mark...
Giant Swallowtail
Papilio cresphontes
The largest butterfly in North America with dark brown wings crossed by yellow bands. Larvae resembl...
Giant Swallowtail of the Andes
Papilio thoas
One of the largest swallowtail butterflies in South America, with bold yellow and black striped wing...
Giant Willow Cossid
Endoxyla cinereus
One of the heaviest moths in the world, native to Australia. Larvae bore into the trunks of eucalypt...
Glandon Blue
Agriades glandon
A tiny high-altitude blue butterfly with distinctive underside spotting. It flies close to the groun...
Glanville Fritillary
Melitaea cinxia
An orange and black chequered butterfly confined in Britain to the Isle of Wight's coastal cliffs. I...
Glasswing Butterfly
Greta oto
Remarkable for its transparent wings, created by nanopillar structures that reduce light reflection ...
Glover's Silk Moth
Hyalophora columbia gloveri
A large silk moth from the western Rocky Mountain region with reddish-brown wings and white crescent...
Goat Moth
Cossus cossus
A large moth whose caterpillars bore deep into hardwood trees for up to four years....
Goatweed Leafwing
Anaea andria
A bright orange butterfly whose angular wing shape and mottled brown underside create a perfect dead...
Gold Swift
Phymatopus hecta
A small primitive moth with golden-brown forewings marked with silvery-white spots. Males perform ho...
Gold-banded Forester
Euphaedra neophron
A striking forest butterfly with dark wings marked by a bold golden-orange band. It feeds on the for...
Golden Birdwing
Troides aeacus
A large birdwing butterfly with velvety black forewings and brilliant golden-yellow hindwings. It is...
Golden Emperor
Loepa megacore
A bright golden-yellow silk moth with maroon eyespots ringed in black on each wing. It has a fluffy ...
Golden Kaiserind
Teinopalpus aureus
An extremely rare swallowtail butterfly from southern China with brilliant golden-green coloration. ...
Golden Sun Moth
Synemon plana
A day-flying moth with dull grey-brown forewings and brilliant orange-gold hindwings. It is critical...
Golden-headed Micropterix
Micropterix aruncella
A tiny, metallic-headed moth that is among the most primitive living Lepidoptera. Adults have functi...
Goliath Birdwing
Ornithoptera goliath
One of the largest butterflies in the world, found in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea and nearby...
Gothic Moth
Naenia typica
A dark brown moth with intricate pale crosslines and markings resembling Gothic architecture. It is ...
Grass Webworm Moth
Herpetogramma licarsisalis
A small brownish moth with faint wavy lines across the forewings. Its larvae spin silk webs over gra...
Gray Hairstreak
Strymon melinus
One of the most widespread hairstreaks in North America with slate-gray wings and a bright orange sp...
Great Banded Grayling
Brintesia circe
A large brown butterfly with a prominent white band across the hindwing underside, resembling a tree...
Great Eggfly
Hypolimnas bolina
A striking tropical butterfly in which males are jet black with large iridescent white-blue spots. F...
Great Helen
Papilio iswara
A large, elegant swallowtail with dark velvety black wings bearing a broad white band across the hin...
Great Mormon
Papilio memnon
A large swallowtail butterfly where females come in multiple dramatically different forms mimicking ...
Great Nawab
Polyura eudamippus
A large and powerful butterfly with pale green-white uppersides and richly marked brown and olive un...
Great Orange Tip
Hebomoia glaucippe
The largest pierid butterfly in the world with white wings bearing brilliant orange tips. It has a f...
Great Purple Emperor
Sasakia charonda
Japan's national butterfly, known as 'o-murasaki' in Japanese. Males display a stunning purple iride...
Great Purple Hairstreak
Atlides halesus
The largest hairstreak in North America with brilliant iridescent blue upperside wings and a bright ...
Great Spangled Fritillary
Speyeria cybele
Large orange butterfly with heavy black markings and silver spots on the hindwing underside. Common ...
Green Baron
Euthalia adonia
A forest butterfly with vivid iridescent green upperside in males, while females are brownish with w...
Green Carpet Moth
Colostygia pectinataria
A small moth with bright green forewings crossed by darker green bands. The green color fades to yel...
Green Dragontail
Lamproptera meges
A diminutive swallowtail butterfly with translucent green-tinted wings and extraordinarily long, sle...
Green Hairstreak
Callophrys rubi
A small butterfly with plain brown uppersides but stunning iridescent green undersides. It always re...
Green Oak Tortrix
Tortrix viridana
A small bright green moth with pale hindwings that is the most important oak defoliator in Europe. O...
Green Silver-lines
Pseudoips prasinana
A vivid bright-green moth with three diagonal white or silver lines across each forewing. It is one ...
Green-banded Swallowtail
Papilio nireus
A striking black swallowtail with brilliant metallic blue-green bands across both wings. It is a fas...
Green-veined Charaxes
Charaxes candiope
A large charaxes with orange upperwings and distinctive green-veined underwings. It is common along ...
Greenland Copper
Lycaena phlaeas polaris
The Arctic subspecies of the small copper butterfly, smaller and darker than its temperate counterpa...
Greenland Noctuid Moth
Sympistis zetterstedtii
A small, cryptically patterned moth with mottled gray and brown forewings. It is one of the few noct...
Grizzled Skipper
Pyrgus malvae
A tiny butterfly with dark brown wings chequered with white spots, resembling a small moth. It basks...
Guedin's Hawk Moth
Macroglossum gyrans
A small day-flying hawk moth with olive-brown forewings and orange-yellow hindwings. It hovers at fl...
Gulf Fritillary
Dione vanillae
Bright orange wings with black markings above and elongated silver spots below. Despite its name, it...
Gum Leaf Skeletoniser
Uraba lugens
A small moth whose caterpillars are known for retaining their shed head capsules stacked on top of e...
Gypsy Moth
Lymantria dispar
A sexually dimorphic moth where males are brown and can fly, while females are white with dark marki...
Hag Moth
Phobetron pithecium
A furry brown moth whose larva is called the monkey slug due to its bizarre shape with curly fleshy ...
Harvester Butterfly
Feniseca tarquinius
The only carnivorous butterfly in North America, whose caterpillar feeds on woolly aphids rather tha...
Hawaiian Carnivorous Caterpillar
Eupithecia staurophragma
A remarkable moth whose caterpillars are ambush predators of insects, unique among Lepidoptera. Foun...
Hawk Moth (Australian Privet Hawk Moth)
Psilogramma menephron
One of Australia's largest hawk moths, with a robust grey body and intricately patterned wings that ...
Heart and Dart
Agrotis exclamationis
An extremely common brown moth named for the heart and dart-shaped markings on its forewing. It is o...
Hebrew Character
Orthosia gothica
A spring-flying moth with a distinctive black C-shaped marking on each forewing that resembles a Heb...
Helena Brown Butterfly
Tisiphone helena
A dark brown butterfly with orange-ringed eyespots found in shaded forest environments. It has a wea...
Helena Gum Moth
Opodiphthera helena
A beautiful saturniid moth with pinkish-brown wings marked with bold eyespots. It is found in eucaly...
Heliconius Hecale Longwing
Heliconius hecale
A large Heliconius butterfly with black wings marked by broad orange and yellow patches. It is one o...
Heliconius Hewitsoni
Heliconius hewitsoni
A rare Heliconius butterfly with black wings and a distinctive bright yellow forewing band. It is re...
Helicopter Metalmark
Chorinea octauius
Transparent forewings with red and black hindwing tails that twirl in flight. The spinning tails cre...
Henshaw's Brown Silk Moth
Caligula japonica
A large Japanese silk moth with rich brown wings featuring distinctive zigzag postmedial lines and c...
Herald Moth
Scoliopteryx libatrix
A distinctive moth with scalloped wing edges and orange patches that hibernates in caves, cellars, a...
Hercules Moth
Coscinocera hercules
Has the largest wing area of any moth — up to 300 square centimeters. Named after Hercules for its g...
Hercules Moth of South America
Copaxa multifenestrata
A large silk moth with brown wings bearing multiple translucent windows that give it its species nam...
Hickory Horned Devil
Citheronia regalis
The largest caterpillar in North America at up to 150 mm, with dramatic curved horns and fearsome ap...
High Brown Fritillary
Fabriciana adippe
A large, fast-flying fritillary with rich tawny-orange wings and a complex pattern of silver spots b...
Hispaniolan Swallowtail
Papilio aristodemus
A large swallowtail butterfly found in the Caribbean with yellow and dark brown wings. Several subsp...
Hoary Edge Skipper
Achalarus lyciades
A dark brown spread-wing skipper with a frosted white patch along the outer margin of the hindwing u...
Holly Blue
Celastrina argiolus
Pale silvery-blue butterfly with small black dots on the underside. Alternates between holly and ivy...
Homerus Swallowtail
Papilio homerus
The largest butterfly in the Americas, with a wingspan reaching 150 mm and bold black and yellow pat...
Hornet Moth
Sesia apiformis
A clearwing moth that is a near-perfect mimic of the European hornet....
Horse Chestnut Leaf-miner
Cameraria ohridella
A tiny moth that has devastated horse chestnut trees across Europe since its discovery in 1985. Larv...
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth
Hemaris thysbe
A day-flying sphinx moth with transparent wings bordered in reddish-brown that closely resembles a h...
Hummingbird Hawk-Moth
Macroglossum stellatarum
A day-flying moth that hovers at flowers and produces an audible hum, almost perfectly mimicking a h...
Ilex Hairstreak
Satyrium ilicis
A small dark brown butterfly with an orange band on the underside of its hindwings and a tiny tail p...
Ilia Underwing
Catocala ilia
A large moth with bark-patterned gray forewings that conceal bright reddish-orange and black hindwin...
Imbrasia Silk Moth
Imbrasia epimethea
A large West African saturniid with reddish-brown wings bearing dark eyespots. Its caterpillars are ...
Imperial Jezebel
Delias harpalyce
A striking butterfly with white uppersides and vivid red and yellow undersides. It flies high in euc...
Imperial Moth
Eacles imperialis
A large moth with bright yellow wings variably marked with purple-brown spots and patches. It is one...
Imported Cabbageworm
Pieris rapae
A common white butterfly whose velvety green caterpillars are among the most familiar vegetable gard...
Indian Fritillary
Argyreus hyperbius
Orange wings with rounded black spots; females have darker forewings with white patches. Females mim...
Indian Moon Moth
Actias selene
A large, elegant moth with pale green wings, long hindwing tails, and maroon-bordered eyespots. It i...
Indian Tortoiseshell
Aglais caschmirensis
A beautiful butterfly with rich orange-brown wings edged with blue spots and irregular dark markings...
Indian Tussock Moth
Euproctis lunata
A yellow-brown moth with a distinctive dark crescent marking on the forewings. Its brightly colored,...
Indianmeal Moth
Plodia interpunctella
The most common stored-product moth pest, recognized by its two-toned wings with copper outer halves...
Io Moth
Automeris io
Named after Io from Greek mythology. Hindwings display large eyespots that flash open to startle pre...
Iron Prominent Moth
Notodonta dromedarius
A richly colored moth with rusty-brown forewings marked with yellow and dark patches. Its caterpilla...
Isabella Tiger Moth
Pyrrharctia isabella
A plain orange-yellow moth with scattered black spots. Its caterpillar is the famous woolly bear a f...
Island Marble Butterfly
Euchloe ausonides insulanus
A small white butterfly with green marbled undersides found only on San Juan Island, Washington. It ...
Jamides celeno
Jamides celeno
Small pale blue butterfly with white-striped underside and orange-crowned eyespots near the tail. Co...
Japanese Bagworm Moth
Eumeta variegata
Known as 'minomushi' in Japanese, the caterpillar builds a distinctive portable case from silk, twig...
Japanese Clouded Yellow
Colias erate
Known as 'monjiro-cho' in Japanese, a common yellow butterfly found in open grasslands. Males are br...
Japanese Comma Butterfly
Nymphalis vaualbum
Known as 'erutateha' in Japanese, a large nymphalid butterfly with deeply scalloped wing edges. The ...
Japanese Copper
Lycaena phlaeas daimio
The Japanese subspecies of the small copper butterfly, known as 'beni-shijimi.' A small but brillian...
Japanese Giant Silkmoth
Saturnia japonica
A large reddish-brown moth with prominent eyespots on all four wings. It is endemic to Japan and clo...
Japanese Luehdorfia
Luehdorfia japonica
A rare spring-flying swallowtail butterfly endemic to Japan. Named 'spring goddess' in Japanese. Has...
Japanese Luna Moth
Actias gnoma
A smaller Japanese moon moth known as 'o-mizuao-ga,' with elegant pale green wings and long tail str...
Japanese Lunar Moth
Actias aliena
A beautiful pale green moon moth found in Japan, known as 'o-mizuao.' Features long, elegant tail st...
Japanese Moon Moth
Actias artemis
A delicate pale green moon moth with elegant hindwing tails found only in Japan. It flies during the...
Japanese Oakblue
Arhopala japonica
A beautiful lycaenid butterfly with brilliant metallic blue upperwings and cryptic brown underwings....
Japanese Silk Moth
Antheraea yamamai
A large wild silk moth native to Japan with striking yellow-brown wings bearing prominent eyespots. ...
Japanese Spicebush Swallowtail
Papilio protenor
A striking all-black swallowtail known as 'kuro-ageha' in Japanese. The hindwings have subtle red an...