Subject: Moths of Sri Lanka
Location: Sri Lanka
November 2, 2012 7:29 am
I have over 60 species of Moth to ID from Sri Lanka. Found you guys and thought i would test you out! I have attached 3 fairly distinctive looking Moths to start with. Really hope you can help ID these. If not maybe suggest someone who can? So i can contact them.
Any help will be gratefully received, thanks.
Signature: Gary T

Urania Moth: Micronia aculeata

Hi Gary,
Identification requests can sometimes take a great deal of time and not prove fruitful, and we generally only like to identify one species per request.  Your three moths are in different families, and we would like to deal with them individually.  We tried a quick search of the “moth Sri Lanka” and discovered a website, Sri Lanka Insects, and fortuitously, there was a photo of Micronia aculeata, but no information.  That name produced a posting on TrekNature and we now know this lovely moth is in the family Urania.  We will attempt your other requests at a later time.

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Subject: butterfly in Solomon Islands
Location: Honiara, Solomon Islands
July 23, 2012 6:42 am
Hello
Trying to find the name of the butterfly I saw today in Solomon Islands.
Thank you!
Signature: Kengo Hoshina

Possibly Lyssa mutata

Dear Kengo,
This is not a butterfly.  It is a moth in the family Uraniidae, and we recall a similar looking species from our archive.  We found this image of a Tropical Swallowtail Moth from Malaysia, Lyssa zampa, posted in January, and it appears to be closely related to your individual.  Knowing that islands often contain distinct species and subspecies that have developed in isolation, we tried to find any references to moths from the genus Lyssa on the internet.  The only match was what appears to be your moth on FlickR, but alas, it is not identified though the location is listed as Vara Creek, Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.  The subfamily Uraniinae on Wikipedia mentions a species from the Solomon Islands, Lyssa mutata, but there are no photos and we could not locate any photos of Lyssa mutata on other websites online.  We can only speculate that your moth might be Lyssa mutata, but in the event we are wrong, we are still confident that we have correctly identified the genus.

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Subject: What butterfly is this?
Location: Manual Antonio, Costa Rica
May 26, 2012 9:37 pm
I saw this butterfly in Manual Antonia Park in Costa Rica in May. We call it a stealth butterfly because of the same but what is it?
Signature: B

Sunset Moth

Dear B,
This Sunset Moth, Urania fulgens, looks and acts more like a butterfly than most other moths, so your error is easily understood.  The Sunset Moth is brightly colored and diurnal in habit, preferring to fly during the daylight hours rather than at night. 

Thank you! I thought it was in the swallowtail family. Thank you again!

Do not confuse the Swallowtail Moths (see BugGuide) with the Swallowtail Butterflies.

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Malaysian Butterfly
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
January 26, 2012 8:22 pm
This butterfly (?moth) flew in the open window last night and landed on my shoulder while watching TV! Can you help me identify it?
Signature: Jason

Tropical Swallowtail Moth

Dear Jason,
We rather quickly identified your moth as Lyssa zampa on the Habitat News website from Singapore, though it helped greatly that we recognized the family as Uranidae.  The Habitat News website states:  “The species is found across the Indo-Australian region and is usually enountered in forested areas and nearby urban areas, as it is attracted to the lights there. Altitudinally, they can be found as high as 2,600 metres on Gunung Kinabalu, Sabah! The food plants of the caterpillars are reportedly species of Endospermum (Family Euphorbiaceae); see Barlow’s Moths of Borneo.  While they flutter around readily at night, they are usually immobile in the day (unless disturbed and need to relocate to a suitable perch), allowing a good view of their beautiful wings. I remember the spectacular (and at the time, slightly intimidating) sight of numerous individuals perched on ceilings and walls on damp nights when I was a child. I am of the impression they were more numerous three decades ago.”  In a more recent posting to the Habitat New website, the moth is called the Tropical Swallowtail Moth.

Tropical Swallowtail Moth

Thanks Daniel, we really appreciate the feedback!
Regards,
Jason.

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April 7, 2010
Dear Daniel,
Thank you very much for your prompt and documented answer. Thanks to Karl too!!
I did not suppose it was a moth!!
During this same travel, I saw another moth and first I thought it was a butterfly…. Further, I identified it as Urania fulgens. Is it true? It is also a marvellous moth….
It was in Corcovado in Costa Rica, in early March 2010.
Best regards,
MAB

Sunset Moth

Dear MAB,
Thanks so much for sending us your gorgeous photos of the Sunset Moth, Urania fulgens, a diurnal species occasionally reported from south Texas.  The North American Butterfly Association website has some nice photos.

Urania Moth

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Unknown Butterfly
Hi,
Just returned from a trip to the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. While walking on the beach I photographed this beautiful butterfly. Black and green swallowtail. Is it in the Graphium family or??? thanks,
Marilyn

Hi Marily,
It might seem deceptive that it is brightly colored, flies by day, but is not a butterfly. This is a Swallowtail Moth, Urania fulgens. We found a website that indicates that this Central and South American species occasionally ranges into Florida. This species is prone to population explosions and mass migrations.

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bug identification request
Hi,
I saw the attached bug in Yasuni National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon. My guide told me it was a swallow-tailed moth, but it looks nothing like the description (and picture) on wikipedia. Can you help identify? Thanks,
Oliver

Hi Oliver,
Your image is of a diurnal moth in the genus Urania and Swallowtail Moth seems to be a good enough descriptive name. According to an image we located on the God of Insects website, it might be either Urania leilus or Urania fulgens or it might be a related species in the genus. It seems this is a popular genus with collectors as evidenced by the number of websites with mounted specimens for sale.

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