Specimens Project 2014
For the last quarter of the 2013-2014 school year, I decided to pin Lepidoptera specimens and anatomically label them to demonstrate the diversity and biology of the order. Here are the compiled results:
The Process
The Results
-- Danaus plexippus --
(Monarch butterfly)
Wing Span (average): 3 3/8- 4 7/8 inches
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Nectar from milkweed, as well as a variety of flowers including dogbane, lilac, and clover.
Range: Southern Canada through the United States and down to most of South America. Present in Australia and other Pacific Islands.
Habitat: Open habitats such as fields, meadows, marshes, and roadsides.
Specimen Origin:
(Monarch butterfly)
Wing Span (average): 3 3/8- 4 7/8 inches
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Nectar from milkweed, as well as a variety of flowers including dogbane, lilac, and clover.
Range: Southern Canada through the United States and down to most of South America. Present in Australia and other Pacific Islands.
Habitat: Open habitats such as fields, meadows, marshes, and roadsides.
Specimen Origin:
-- Graphium sarpedon milon --
(Common Bluebottle or Blue Triangle Butterfly)
Wing Span: 55-75 mm
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: A variety of flowering herbs, though some feed on the bark of the Cinnamon Tree or the Indian Laurel.
Range: South to Southeast Asia, as well as Australia.
Habitat: Low-level rainforests.
Specimen Origin:
(Common Bluebottle or Blue Triangle Butterfly)
Wing Span: 55-75 mm
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: A variety of flowering herbs, though some feed on the bark of the Cinnamon Tree or the Indian Laurel.
Range: South to Southeast Asia, as well as Australia.
Habitat: Low-level rainforests.
Specimen Origin:
-- Diaethria clymena --
(Cramer's Eighty-Nine Butterfly)
Wing Span: 1 1/2- 1 3/4 inches
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Decaying fruit and dung.
Range: South America, though occasionally strays to South Florida.
Habitat: Wet tropical forests.
Specimen Origin:
(Cramer's Eighty-Nine Butterfly)
Wing Span: 1 1/2- 1 3/4 inches
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Decaying fruit and dung.
Range: South America, though occasionally strays to South Florida.
Habitat: Wet tropical forests.
Specimen Origin:
-- Phoebis argante --
(Apricot Sulphur Butterfly)
Wing Span: 2 1/8- 2 5/8 inches
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Nectar from a variety of red flowers.
Range: Paraguay to North Mexico.
Habitat: Tropical forests, pastures, road edges.
Specimen Origin:
(Apricot Sulphur Butterfly)
Wing Span: 2 1/8- 2 5/8 inches
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Nectar from a variety of red flowers.
Range: Paraguay to North Mexico.
Habitat: Tropical forests, pastures, road edges.
Specimen Origin:
-- Actias luna --
(Luna Moth)
Wing Span: 7.5- 10.5 cm
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Adults do not feed.
Range: Nova Scotia west to Saskatchewan and eastern North Dakota; south to Central Florida, the Gulf Coast, and eastern Texas.
Habitat: Deciduous hardwood forests.
Specimen Origin:
(Luna Moth)
Wing Span: 7.5- 10.5 cm
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Adults do not feed.
Range: Nova Scotia west to Saskatchewan and eastern North Dakota; south to Central Florida, the Gulf Coast, and eastern Texas.
Habitat: Deciduous hardwood forests.
Specimen Origin:
-- Eurytides serville --
(Serville Swallowtail Butterfly)
Wing Span: 2 2/5- 3 1/2 inches
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Mineralized moisture from puddles and ditches.
Range: Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
Habitat: Rainforests and lowlands.
Specimen Origin:
(Serville Swallowtail Butterfly)
Wing Span: 2 2/5- 3 1/2 inches
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Mineralized moisture from puddles and ditches.
Range: Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
Habitat: Rainforests and lowlands.
Specimen Origin:
-- Urania ripheus (Chrysiridia ripheus) --
(Sunset Moth)
Wing Span: 7-9 cm
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Nectar from various white-yellow flowers with dense filaments.
Range: Madagascar.
Habitat: Pan-tropical.
Specimen Origin:
(Sunset Moth)
Wing Span: 7-9 cm
Specimen Wing Span:
Food: Nectar from various white-yellow flowers with dense filaments.
Range: Madagascar.
Habitat: Pan-tropical.
Specimen Origin:
