Butterflies, known as "walking flowers", have high ornamental value. So, do you know about how many species of butterflies there are in the world? There are more than 14,000 kinds, but only a very small number of them can be called national butterflies, the national butterflies of various countries are selected by thousands of people, and in the insect exhibition area of the Gansu Agricultural University Cognitive Museum, there are specimens of national butterflies from many countries, and today Professor Shang Suqin of the Department of Entomology of the College of Plant Protection of Gansu Agricultural University introduced the differences of these national butterflies for the students.
01
Chinese national butterfly: Golden-spotted beaked phoenix butterfly
The golden-spotted beaked butterfly belongs to the order Lepidoptera, Butterfly family, and beaked butterfly, which is endemic to China. For a long time, it has been praised by butterfly experts in the world as "the butterfly in the dream". The golden-beaked butterfly is a subtropical and tropical alpine species that inhabits the evergreen broad-leaved forest mountains at an altitude of about 1000 meters, down to the ground for drinking water and other activities, so it is not easy to find and catch, adult insects like to suck the nectar of a rhododendron family. It often flies high in the forest, and sometimes stops among the flowers, its posture is beautiful, gorgeous and noble, glorious, flying quickly, rarely stopping to rest. It is mainly distributed in Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan regions of China.
Golden-spotted beaked butterfly Male butterfly
Golden-spotted beaked butterfly Female butterfly
02
Malaysian National Butterfly: Green leaf red-necked butterfly
The red-necked butterfly is a genus of lepidoptera, butterfly family, butterfly genus, is one of the most rare butterfly insects in the world. Because it has a ring of red fluff around its neck, it is called "red-necked bird wing butterfly". It is also known as the "green leaf butterfly" because the green markings on the wing surface resemble the green leaves of trees. Living in tropical forests at altitudes of 500–1500 m, male butterflies have a habit of absorbing water in flocks, usually flying quickly through the canopy or shuttling across open forest edges. Female butterflies mostly visit flowers. It is happy to fly to the wildflowers at dusk in the morning to suck in honey. Sometimes they actively attack other butterflies and then flee. It is mainly distributed in parts of Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
03
Indian Butterfly: Golden-banded Beaked Butterfly
The golden-beaked butterfly belongs to the order Lepidoptera, Butterflyidae, and Beaked Butterfly, and is one of the most rare butterfly insects in the world. This butterfly is listed in the genus Beaked Phoenix, together with the Chinese national butterfly, and is a rare butterfly species in the world. Mainly distributed in: China, India (Indian national butterfly), Nepal, Myanmar.
Golden-beaked butterfly Female butterfly
04
American National Butterfly: Monarch Butterfly
Monarch butterfly belongs to the order Lepidoptera, The Butterfly Family, the Butterfly genus, the butterfly is also called the black-veined golden-spotted butterfly or monarch butterfly, it can carry out large-scale migration, thousands of people, every autumn, they will cross the entire United States, from Canada to Mexico for wintering, three months, more than three thousand kilometers, equivalent to 3-40 kilometers a day. It is mainly distributed in North America, South America and Southern Europe, but also in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
05
Brazil Butterfly: Sun Butterfly
Heliophora are Lepidoptera, Glitteridae, And Glitter. The color and pattern of the entire wing surface resemble the oriental sunrise, and the morning sun is full of sky, so it is also known as oriental red. At first glance, under the illumination of the morning sun, the upper body of the butterfly is transparent. The colors are bright and the pattern is quite complex. The forefoot is rather degenerate, short and clawless. It is a tropical butterfly that exists only in the Amazon basin and northern Guyana.
06
Bhutanese Butterfly: Multi-tailed butterfly
The polycephalus is a genus of lepidoptera, aceta, and a genus of caudal butterflies. Rare and beautiful, it is the national butterfly of Bhutan and is known as the "Alpine Beauty". It is the most beautiful butterfly in the genus Brown Phoenix. It is found in Yunnan, Myanmar, Thailand, Bhutan and northern India.
07
Colombian national butterfly: Cyprus flash butterfly
Cyprus Glitter is a genus of Lepidoptera, Butterflyidae, Phyllonorycter. In the neotropical realm, tropical rainforests are infested, and the forefoot is quite degraded, short and clawless. The wings of the male glitter butterfly have a brilliant metallic luster, which is related to the various shapes of scales on its wings, the scale structure of the glitter butterfly is complex, the fine structure is composed of multiple layers of three-dimensional fences, when the light hits the wings, it will produce physical phenomena such as refraction, reflection and diffraction. It is found in Panama and Colombia.
08
Australian National Butterfly: Heaven butterfly
The Paradise Butterfly belongs to the order Lepidoptera, Butterfly family. Also known as the glass butterfly, the hero butterfly. Australia's most beautiful butterfly, also its national butterfly, is captivated by its pure blue and black and elegant form. Living in the tropical jungles of New Guinea, they are considered by the local indigenous people to be messengers from heaven because of their graceful and huge wings and their pure blue luster on a black velvety background. It is said that the British fleet has just set foot on this fertile land of Australia and found this butterfly with a blue glow, and in order to catch this butterfly, the whole crew has been chasing it to the heart of Australia. It is mainly distributed in Australia.
09
Japan's national butterfly: The Great Purple Butterfly
The great purple butterfly is a genus of lepidoptera, aceta, and a bird-winged butterfly. The male butterfly is purple from the base to the middle of the upper wing, with white spots, the rest of the dark brown, with yellow spots, the female butterfly is dark brown in all wings, the hindwing has two columns of yellow spots, curved arrangement, the female butterfly has larger wings, the wings are black brown, no purple metallic luster. What is more special is that the adult butterfly of the large purple butterfly will do "eagle-like circling flight" in the river valley or on the edge of the forest, and like to suck the sap of green oak and cork oak, or the sap of the decomposed water juice, and it is extremely territorial, and for the butterflies that mistakenly break into their "airspace", they will rush forward to chase and drive. It is distributed in Hebei, Shaanxi, Northeast China, Zhejiang, Hunan, Guizhou, Taiwan, Beijing and Japan.
10
Peruvian Butterfly: Helena Butterfly
Helena Glitter is a genus of Lepidoptera, Glitteridae, Andyx. Also known as the goddess of light butterfly, beautiful and dreamy butterfly, the entire wing surface is like a blue sea, the sea gushing white waves, its color and pattern is very spectacular, known as "the most beautiful butterfly in the world". It likes to fly fast through dense forests and feed on the sap of fallen fruits. It is found in Brazil, Peru and Colombia.
★ Increase knowledge ★
What is the difference between butterflies and moths?
Butterflies, belonging to arthropoda, insecta, lepidoptera. It has a wide variety of insects with bright body colors and is a class of insects with high ornamental value. There are about 14,000 species of butterflies in the world, all over the world, but the Amazon Basin is the region with the most abundant butterfly species in the world. There are about 1200 species in China. Butterflies have played an extremely important role in literature, art and aesthetics. The idiom "Zhuang Zhou Mengdi" comes from the famous Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin's "Jinse".
Butterflies are sensitive to changes in their surrounding environment, and when their living environment changes, they are affected and react first, so they are often selected as indicator taxa for environmental monitoring. Therefore, the characteristics of butterfly species composition, distribution, population number and community structure can directly reflect the suitability of its habitat.
The main difference between butterflies and moths is that the butterfly head has a pair of rod-like antennae, while the moth's antennae are various in shape, such as filamentous, feathery, etc.; secondly, the butterfly is active during the day, while the moth is mostly active at night; and the butterfly's wings will stand on its back when resting, while the moth is completely flat on the body.
Text/Pocket Lanzhou Lanzhou Morning Post Chief Reporter Xia Miao
Courtesy of Professor Shang Suqin, Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Gannon University