Every picture tells a story
The upper wing surfaces of butterflies are often brightly coloured and visually highly apparent (above), whilst the undersides are usually fairly dull and inconspicuous (below). Although this characterisation is a … Continue Reading How to build a butterfly!
Why is that in some butterflies, the sexes are identical, whereas in other species the male and female are very different? Not an easy question to answer I think. In … Continue Reading Sexual dimorphism: when Mr and Mrs butterfly dress differently!
I had the pleasure of coming across two large fly species in Spain this summer, both of which are thought to mimic the European hornet (Vespa crabro). They are both large and … Continue Reading Two hornet mimics and a new model!
Most of us can tell a bee from a fly, can’t we? We all have an idea about what each of them looks like: a fly is small and shiny; … Continue Reading Polymorphic mimics: flies that look like bumblebees
Clearwing tiger moths, also called Wasp moths (Syntomini, Arctiinae, Erebidae), are somewhat similar in appearance to clear-wing moths in the family Sesiidae, but many do not have transparent wings. Those … Continue Reading A clearwing tiger moth
This is a story of a moth, Histia flabellicornis (Zygaenidae), which is a Müllerian mimic, which means that it is an unpalatable species in the same area as other unpalatable moths … Continue Reading A tale of a black moth: a Müllerian mimic in Thailand?
