insects – Page 4 – TwistedSifter

15 Stunning Photos of the Glasswinged Butterfly

The Glasswinged butterfly (Greta oto) is a beautiful brush-footed butterfly and is a member of the: subfamily Danainae, tribe Ithomiini, subtribe Godyridina. Greta oto adults exhibit a number of interesting behaviours, such as long migrations and lekking (gathering of males for competitive mating displays). The wings are translucent, with a wingspan of 5.6 to 6.1 cm (2.2 to 2.4 in). Its most common English name is glasswinged butterfly, and its Spanish name is “espejitos”, which means “little mirrors.”

The Glasswinged butterfly gets its name because the tissue between the veins of its wings looks like glass, as it lacks the coloured scales found in other butterflies [Source: Wikipedia]. Below you will find a gallery of 15 stunning photos of these beautiful creatures. Enjoy!

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Photograph by Swamibu on Flickr

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Photograph by Eddy Van 3000 on Flickr

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Photograph via relativedeprivation on Reddit

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Photograph by Grey Wulf on Flickr

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Photograph by Swamibu on Flickr

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Photograph by Sophie L. Miller on Flickr

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Photograph by Kal Ahmed on Flickr

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Photograph by David Fre on Flickr

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Photograph by David Tiller on Wikimedia Commons

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Photograph via butterflies.co.za

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Photograph by Len Radin on Flickr

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Photograph by Sophie L. Miller on Flickr

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Photograph by Ashley Cohen (iBirder Photography) on Flickr

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Photograph via Imgur

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Photograph via Betanut on Reddit

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The Incredible Praying Mantis [25 pics]

The Amazing Caterpillar That Looks Like a Snake

Photograph by KEN RIPPENGALE

Deilephila elpenor, known as the Elephant Hawk-moth, is a large moth of the Sphingidae family. The species is found throughout Britain and Ireland. Its range extends across Europe, Russia, and into China, northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, Japan and Korea (though not Taiwan). Introduced specimens have been found in British Columbia. In most of their range, the adults are seen from May to July and the caterpillars from July to September, when they pupate. However in some parts of the Mediterranean and China the adults may be seen from April on, sometimes having two broods in a year. [Source]

Photograph by RICHERMAN

Photograph by JOACHIM BAECKER

The larva is about 75 millimetres (3.0 in) long, green and brown in colour. Like most hawk moth caterpillars, they have a backward curving spine or “horn” on the final abdominal segment. The anterior of the caterpillar appears to have the shape of a trunk-like snout. It is this elephant look, rather than its large size, that gives the moth its name. When startled, the caterpillar draws its trunk into its foremost body segment. This posture resembles a snake with a large head and four large eye-like patches. Caterpillars are preyed upon by birds, but these shy away (at least for some time) from caterpillars in “snake” pose. It is not known whether the birds take the caterpillar to actually resemble a snake, or are frightened by the sudden change of a familiar prey item into an unusual and boldly-patterned shape. [Source]

Photograph by MARC WATHIEU

This species possesses good night or scotopic vision. Its eye includes two different kinds of ommatidium; each contains nine light sensitive cells, of which seven contain a pigment whose absorption spectrum peaks in the green part of the spectrum, but in one type the remaining two receptors have peak absorption in the blue and in the other type they have peak reception in the ultra violet. The moth therefore has the cellular prerequisites for trichromatic colour vision. Adults have been shown to be capable of making colour discriminations at night-time levels of illumination, and they sustain these discriminations despite changes in the spectral content of the incident light; that is, they show colour constancy. [Source]

Photograph by MARC WATHIEU

Photograph by JEAN PIERE HAMON

The imago (adult) feeds at night, and often takes nectar from garden plants like Honeysuckles (Lonicera) and petunias, so it is quite often seen in urban settings in the evening. The moth typically has a wing span of 50–70 mm (2.0–2.8 in). It is spectacularly coloured, seeming to shimmer with green and red when in motion. The adult moths are eaten by some species of bats. [Source]

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The Incredible Praying Mantis [25 pics]

Photograph by IGOR SIWANOWICZ

Mantodea (or mantises) is an order of insects that contains approximately 2,200 species in 15 families worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. A colloquial name for the order is “praying mantises”, because of the typical “prayer-like” stance, although the term is often misspelled as “preying mantis” since mantises are predatory. [Source]

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Photograph by Abariltur (Taking a break) on Flickr

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Photograph by PETER HALASZ

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Photograph by Larry [Sully5604 on Flickr]

Mantises have two grasping, spiked forelegs (“raptorial legs”) in which prey items are caught and held securely. Located at the base of the femur are a set of spines, usually four in number but ranging from zero to as many as five depending on the species. These spines are preceded by a number of tooth-like tubercles, which give the foreleg of the mantis its grasp on its prey. [Source]

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Photograph by IGOR SIWANOWICZ

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Photograph by MACROJUNKIE @ deviantART

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Photograph by Abariltur (Taking a break) on Flickr

The articulation of the head is also remarkably flexible, permitting nearly 300 degrees of movement in some species, allowing for a great range of vision (their compound eyes may contain up to 10,000 ommatidia and have a large binocular field of vision), as their hunting relies heavily on vision. [Source]

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Photograph by MANOLO BLANCO

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Photograph by DALANTECH @ deviantART

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Photograph by IGOR SIWANOWICZ

If not wingless, a mantis will have two sets of wings: the outer wings, called the foreseeing or tegmina, are usually narrow, opaque, and leathery and function as camouflage and as a shield for the inner wings, or hindwings– it is this much more delicate, broad, and transparent set that is actually used for flight. [Source]

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Photograph by FERRAN TURMO GORT

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Photograph by HEY-ITS-LAURA @ deviantART

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Photograph by IGOR SIWANOWICZ

Mantises are exclusively predatory. Insects form the primary diet, but larger species have been known to prey on small scorpions, lizards,frogs, birds, snakes, fish, and even rodents; they will prey upon any species small enough to successfully capture and devour. Most species of mantis are known to engage in cannibalism. The majority of mantises are ambush predators, waiting for prey to stray too near. The mantis then lashes out at remarkable speed. [Source]

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Photograph by MACROJUNKIE @ deviantART

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Photograph by IGOR SIWANOWICZ

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Photograph by ANTONIO GIUDICI

Generally, mantises protect themselves by camouflage and concealment. When directly threatened, many mantis species stand tall and spread their forelegs, with their wings fanning out wide. The fanning of the wings makes the mantis seem larger and more threatening, with some species having bright colors and patterns on their hind wings and inner surfaces of their front legs for this purpose. [Source]

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Photograph by IGOR SIWANOWICZ

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Photograph by MIKI3D @ deviantART

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Photograph by MACROJUNKIE @ deviantART

As in related insect groups, mantises go through three stages of metamorphosis: egg, nymph, and adult (mantises are among thehemimetabolic insects). The nymph and adult insect are structurally quite similar, except that the nymph is smaller and has no wings or functional genitalia. The nymphs are also sometimes colored differently from the adult, and the early stages are often mimics of ants. [Source]

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Photograph by IGOR SIWANOWICZ

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Photograph by SAMLIM @ deviantART

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Photograph by IGOR SIWANOWICZ

In tropical species, the natural lifespan of a mantis in the wild is about 10–12 months, but some species kept in captivity have been sustained for 14 months. In colder areas, females will die during the winter (as well as any surviving males). [Source]