Blue Radiant Ruler Moth: Whatever it is, beauty is enough!
Iotaphora admirabilis
Blue radiating ruler moth, belonging to arthropods, insects, lepidoptera, ulnar moth family, radiation ulnar moth genus. It is generally distributed at a medium altitude of 1500 meters to 2200 meters, and is distributed in most parts of the country. Photo taken in Pu'er.
The whole body of the blue-radiating ruler moth is a high-grade blue-gray, with a very bright yellow-white smudged arc on the wings, and below the arc is a blue-black longitudinal stripe of different lengths, and a circle of blue-black edges at the end. The color of the head and the back half of the thorax is also bright yellow, and the abdomen is bluish green with fine white lines.
With such a good appearance, it is no wonder that some people call it a gorgeous ruler moth, even compared with some beautiful butterflies, the blue radiation ruler moth is not much more.
In reality, many friends are stupid about moths and butterflies.
Butterflies and moths belong to lepidoptera, why are they called Lepidoptera?
That's because both wings have scales, which is actually the powder we often call butterflies and moths, because the scales are so subtle that they can only be seen under a microscope. Although these scales are not toxic, some people will be allergic to them.
Lepidoptera is the second largest order in the insect order after Coleoptera , with about 160,000 known species ( the population is constantly being updated ) .
In racial reproduction, moths overwhelmingly leave butterflies far behind, accounting for 90% of the population, but butterflies that account for only 10% have a larger following.
How fond of butterflies did the ancients have? Zhuang Zhou Meng Butterfly, Liang Zhuhua Butterfly, Butterfly Love Flower, Elderly taken from the harmonic sound of the kitten fluttering butterfly... However, it is insensitive to the large number of moths.
One of the reasons is that butterflies are more active during the day, moths are more active at night, they have a good sense of smell and hearing, can adapt to nocturnal life, have phototropism, so there are moths to put out fire (candle fire) theory. With the exception of a few animals, such as bats, the ancients were prejudiced against many animals that were active at night, such as owls and moths, believing that these animals represented inauspiciousness.
In addition to the inconsistencies in the time of activity, moths and butterflies have many differences. First look at the antennae, except for a few cases, the general antennae are matchstick-shaped butterflies, that is, the antennae are slender, only the end is slightly expanded and rounded; the antennae are like combs or feathers, then they are moths. Usually, when the butterfly is grounded, the two pairs of wings are vertical, and the moth will spread the wings.
In addition, considering the huge number of moths, it is not difficult to know that they are not as picky and adaptable as butterflies in terms of range and diet.
Both butterflies and moths are defined as pests during the larval stage, such as the green radiation ruler moth mentioned today, in the larval stage they grow like half a leaf, is the biggest natural enemy of walnut catalpa. But by adulthood, both will be pollinators, contributing to the beauty of the world.
Courtesy of Fan Yi
Fan Yi is an ecological photographer. He has won the Grand Prize of the International Garden Photographer Annual Competition for 4 consecutive years and the first prize in the wild animal and plant category of the first China Eco-Photography Competition in 2018. He is committed to photographing the cultural landscape and biodiversity of western China, especially in Yunnan.
Planning coordinator: Zhao Juan Lian Huiling
Text: Lian Huiling
Poster Design: Zheng Biyin