Butterflies are special creatures. Bright, light, they fly from flower to flower, bewitching. Since ancient times, people watched butterflies, composed verses about their beauty, created signs and legends. Thanks to the wide colorful wings, so reminiscent of an inflorescence, they are very different from other insects on the planet.
The largest representatives of Lepidoptera can reach the size of two human palms. But this article will not discuss them at all, but about the smallest butterflies in the world, their names and photos. Despite their relatively tiny size, they remain as beautiful, chic, mysterious insects as their larger counterparts.
10. Argus brown
Body length - 14 mm wingspan - 22-28 mm.
Other name - Lycaena brown. Despite belonging to this family, there is no trace of blue in the colors of this argus. Her wings are brown, with yellow-orange holes along the edge. Males and females are similar, but in the latter, spots are larger and less common. The underside is beige-gray, with orange holes and black spots.
Inhabits Argus in Europe, central and southern regions, the Caucasus and Asia Minor. The butterfly is quite rare, appears in May-June, then in late July - early August.
9. Phycitinae
Butterfly length - 10 mm wingspan - 10-35 mm.
This butterfly resembles a very large moth, and you must have encountered them in your life. Phycitinae belongs to the family of fireplugs, and there are so many types of them that it is not so simple to single out definitely common signs.
Their wings are usually gray-brown. Even if they have a clear pattern, they still look nondescript. They have a well-developed proboscis, as well as a “muzzle” formed by elongated straight labial tentacles.
Representatives of Phycitinae are found all over the world, except in addition to absolutely inhospitable places. They were found even on separate islands in the open sea. More than 500 species are known in the world, about 100 live in Russia.
8. Small thyme moth
Butterfly length - 13 mm wingspan - 10-20 mm.
This butterfly looks like someone spilled coffee or cherry juice on it. In young individuals, the wings are red-gray and crossed by three uneven lines, like stains from a spilled drink. Gradually, they fade to brownish pink, and then completely to gray.
Moth lives in central Europe, in the south of central Russia and southern Siberia, as well as in Central Asia. The summer time of the first generation is June - July, of the second - August - September.
The moth caterpillar is light green, with a dark stripe on the back. For habitat, the butterfly prefers desert places, among other things, it feeds on thyme, which is why it got its name.
7. Argus
Length - 11-15 mm wingspan - 24-30 mm.
Unlike their brown counterpart, males Lycaena Argus have wings brown with blue. In females, they are simply brown, with a characteristic fringe at the ends. And below - gray-beige, with orange and black spots.
Argus live mainly on moorlands and in large spaces. Summer time is from June to August, and in autumn butterflies lay eggs that survive the winter safely. In spring, brown-green caterpillars with a dark stripe appear on them, which feed on heather and legumes.
Favorite place for pupation is anthills. Pupae secrete a sweet liquid, and the ants take care of them for it.
6. Camptogamma ocher yellow
Body size - 14 mm wingspan - 20-25 mm.
This small butterfly can be of different colors from light yellow to deep brown. From above visible light uneven stripes that make the butterfly look like a shell. The farther north the camphor gamma lives, the darker its wings.
The caterpillars of this butterfly are quite funny: black with a bright yellow stripe and yellow spots on the head. Bunches of villi adorn her body. Habitat camptogamma - Almost all of Europe, except for the very northern countries. Flies in gardens, fields, in wastelands. Summer time is from June to August.
5. Urticaria
Butterfly length - 20-25 mm wingspan - 40-60 mm.
Hives from the Nymphalidae family - one of the most common butterflies in Europe. It has a brick-red color of the wings, on the upper three black spots alternate with yellow. The edge is wavy. The reverse side of the wings is brown, with bright spots.
Hives overwinter in the butterfly phase, and in spring wakes up and lays eggs, so the first individuals can be seen in April. These nymphalids owe their species name to caterpillars, or rather to their diet. They prefer mainly nettles, less often hemp or hops. You can meet her almost everywhere, she was found in the Himalayas, Alps, Magadan and Yakutia.
4. Carbon-winged leaflet
Length 10-12 mm wingspan - 16-20 mm.
Leaflet there are about 10 thousand species. Like Phycitinae, they look like big moths. The color of the wings is brown-yellow, with brown stripes and spots, the reverse side is off-white. Butterfly folds wings by a house. Antenna bristle-shaped, long, directed toward the back.
Caterpillars are light green. They feed mainly on leaves, which are twisted into tubes and bundles using a web. If you disturb her, then gets out of the shelter and hangs on a thin cobweb. If you ever noticed how a thin green caterpillar hangs from a tree, then this is a leaflet.
It is considered a pest for fruit trees; it eats leaves of plums, cherries, apple trees, often young, or buds. Such a scourge is especially relevant for the Crimea. The leaflet lives in Europe and Asia almost everywhere, the summer time is from June to August.
3. Draftswoman blackish
Length - 16 mm wingspan - 16-23 mm.
This butterfly from the nymphalid family wears elegant dark brown wings with orange-yellow spots. There is a persistent feeling that their surface is outlined in black and yellow squares, resembling a checkerboard or checkerboard field. Hence the name - draftswoman.
Females practically do not differ in color, except that the colors are slightly lighter. The wrong side looks like a colorful stained-glass window: yellow upper wings and white-yellow-brown, as if from pieces of colored glass.
The caterpillars of this butterfly are very unusual: black, they have orange growths on the body, similar to spikes covered with black hairs. Dwellers dwell in Europe, Asia and China. Summer time is June - July.
2. Agriades glandon
Length - 16 mm wingspan - 17-26 mm.
And again in our top Lymeca. This time arctic, or Agriades glandon. The upper sides of the wing of the male are silver, steel blue or pale shining blue and become increasingly brown to the edges. The upper sides of the female wing are almost completely brown, but with a slightly bluish pollination in the basal region.
All wings usually have small dark disc spots, which are sometimes surrounded by white. An arthropod polygonum lives in Eurasia and North America, flies from May to September, depending on its place of residence. It is listed in the Red Book of the Komi Republic.
1. Zizula hylax
Length - about 10 mm wingspan - 15 mm.
The smallest day butterfly in the world belongs, again, to the family Lycaenidae. It lives in Africa, Asia and Oceania, including India, Japan, the Philippines, and the northern and eastern coasts of Australia. Therefore, the butterfly does not have a Russian name.
The wings have a dull violet-blue color, which changes to a brighter shade of purple towards the ends. They have a beautiful black edging, as well as white villi at the ends.
If you look at the sun, it seems that the butterfly is glowing. The back side of the wings is gray speckled. The caterpillars of this Lycaena are green, with a red stripe on the back and stripes on the sides.