[ad_1]
Butterflies are some of the most beautiful creatures on this planet. They captivate people with their delicacy, innocence and jewel-like colors. Not only are they beautiful, but as pollinators of all kinds of plants, they are necessary. Some butterflies have always been rare, but due to habitat destruction, pollution and… climate change, too many of them are also threatened. Here is a list of some of the rarest varieties: butterflies:
#10. Blue Morpho
With a wingspan of 5.5 inches, this large, beautiful sapphire blue butterfly is native to the rainforests of Central and South America. Both males and females have iridescent blue wings, although the wings of the females are brown and have white spots. The underside of the wings is brown with orange eye spots outlined in bronze and brown, and the wings of the females have a broken bronze band. Males like to chase each other through the rainforest and one-way collectors catch them by waving a blue piece of cloth where they can see it. The blue morpho feeds on the juices of rotting fruit. The red and green caterpillar is nocturnal and loves the leaves of Erythroxylum and members of the pea family. This butterfly is threatened by habitat loss and collection.
#9. Island Marble Butterfly
This butterfly is endemic to Washington the state’s San Juan Islands. It was once believed to be extinct, but it was found in 1998 and is listed as: threatened since 2020. It is a subspecies of a butterfly called the Great Marble.
The wings of the Island Marble have a fascinating color scheme of marbled green and white, and it feeds on the flowers of the wild mustard. It has a wingspan of between 1.5 and 2 inches, and the caterpillar is about 3/4 inch long. It is green or bluish gray and black speckled with white with yellow stripes on the back and sides. The ideal habitat for the butterfly seems to be the prairie, but prairies, like the butterfly itself, are becoming increasingly rare. Scientists think there are only about 200 of these butterflies left in the wild.
#8. Schaus Dovetail
Native to the south Florida as far as the Caribbean, this swallowtail has a wingspan of 3.25 to 3.75 inches and has black-brown wings with yellow markings. The underside of the hindwings has a rust colored patch decorated with powder blue spots. The females and males can be distinguished from each other because the female has all black antennae while the male is black and yellow tipped. The butterfly is known for being able to fly great distances, meaning it can jump from one Florida Keys to another. There were once only a few hundred butterflies in Florida, but thanks to a captive breeding program, there are about 800 to 1,200 butterflies in the wild. Nevertheless, the conservation status of Schaus dovetail is: vulnerable and it is now only found in southern Florida.
#7. Kaiser-i-Hindo
Also called the Emperor of India, this butterfly is found in the Eastern Himalayas mountains and is unmistakable as it is largely lush grass green. Scientists are still trying to figure out how the scales on the wings produce such a vibrant color. Males can be distinguished from females because they are smaller than females and have a yellow patch on the hind wing. The female also has more tails on her hind wing and she is a bit more dusky. The caterpillar eats the leaves of Daphne shrubs.
Because the butterfly looks so spectacular, it is sought after by collectors, even though it is protected by both India and Nepal. The butterfly, which is related to similar species of butterflies and difficult to distinguish from them, lives at elevations of 6,000 and 10,000 feet. His status is: near threatened.
#6. Zebra Long Wing
The color of this butterfly reminds people of the black and white stripes of a zebra although if you look closely there are red spots at the base of the wings, which have a wingspan of 2.8 to 3.9 inches. It is native to South and Central America and can be found in some parts of the South United States. This makes the range unusually large for a butterfly. The long-winged zebras sit in large groups to protect themselves from predators. In addition, they are unusual for butterflies because they eat pollen and their bodies transform it into chemicals that make the butterfly poisonous. Not only this, the ingestion of pollen makes the zebra longwing live much longer than other butterflies. As of 2021, the butterfly’s conservation status is safe, but pesticides have devastated the Florida population. Like it honeybees, the butterfly also suffered from the collapse of the colony.
#5. Chimera Bird Wing
This large and sensationally colorful butterfly is found in the mountains of New Guinea. The male is brilliant green and yellow, with splashes of black. The female, which is larger than the male, is dark brown with white spots on her forewings. Her hind wings are mostly white and black mottled. The wingspan of the Chimera bird wing is 2.76 to 5.9 inches in males and 3.15 to 7.09 inches in females. The adults sip nectar from Spathodea and hibiscus plants while the caterpillars eat the leaves of the pipevine. Unsurprisingly, collectors are eager for this butterfly, but collecting requires a permit. As of 2021, it is considered near threatened.
To go here for more information on the Chimera bird wing.
#4. Bhutan Glory
The glory of Bhutan is a swallowtail butterfly, but it is unusual in that its forewings are oval. The edge of the wing furthest from the body is convex, and the hindwings have many tails. The general color of this butterfly is black, but it is decorated with wavy white or cream vertical lines. The hindwings have a large orange spot, there are blue black and white eye spots and yellow spots directly above the tails. It can be found in the Himalayas mountains at an elevation of between 5,000 and 9,000 feet and has a flight described as drifting. The caterpillar eats species of the pipevine, which probably makes it taste bad to predators.
Although the conservation status is least concern, the population of Bhutanese glory is declining due to habitat loss.
#3. Queen Alexandra’s Bird Wing
Named after a queen of England, the females of this huge butterfly can have a wingspan of between 9.8 and 11 inches and weigh as much as 0.42 grams. Their wings are brown and white, but the smaller males are a sparkling blue-green and black striped, with a green or blue-green underside. This butterfly only occurs in Papua New Guinea‘s Oro Province. Because it is so rare and endangered, the trade in these butterflies is illegal. Adults feed on hibiscus and other plants strong enough to support their weight early in the morning and early evening. Males are territorial and even look small birds. Humans aren’t the only reason the butterfly is endangered. It has still not recovered from a volcanic eruption that wiped out much of its habitat in 1951.
To learn more about Queen Alexandra’s bird wing, read: this.
#2. Miami Blue
Interestingly, a large number of endangered butterflies belong to the family Lycaenidae. These little butterflies are called blues because of the color of their wings. The population of South Florida’s Miami Blue has had a string of hits over the years. Once it became common, it was decimated by development that started in the 1980s. Then, in 1992, Hurricane Andrew nearly destroyed it. Fortunately, a handful were discovered in Bahia Honda State Park in 1999. The Miami blue is now endangered, although a captive breeding program is being conducted by Florida’s Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.
The Miami Blue has a wingspan of just 0.87 to just over an inch. The wings, as the name implies, are bright blue in the males, while in the females they are gray with a little blue at the base. The hindwings are white bordered and have four spots. The butterfly chooses different types of plants as host plants for its caterpillar, including blackbeads, nickerbeads, peacock flowers, and balloon vines.
#1. Palos Verdes Blue
This small butterfly with its cerulean blue wings and body competes with the Miami Blue to be the rarest butterfly in the world. A subspecies of the silvery blue, is found in California’s Palos Verdes Peninsula. One reason for its endangered status is that it only uses the common deer herb as a host, and this plant has become scarce as its habitat is being converted to housing. This encourages homeowners in the area to plant deer weed.
The wingspan of the Palos Verdes blue butterfly is only slightly larger than that of the Miami blue butterfly, and the wings of the male are silverier than those of its distant cousin. The breeding season lasts from January to early May and coincides with the awakening of the butterflies from their pupae. That’s a good thing, because the Palos Verdes blue only lives for five days as an adult.
Next one: What is a Keystone Species?
[ad_2]
Source link