Urania Swallowtail Moth
Urania fulgens
Though they look like butterflies, they are true moths. Their brilliant green stripes contain no pigment, instead refracting light through microscopic wing structures.
- Scientific name
- Urania fulgens
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Lepidoptera › Uraniidae › Urania
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Tropical rainforests, wet secondary forests, and canopy margins.
- Diet
- Adults feed on flower nectar (especially from Inga species); caterpillars feed exclusively on Omphalea vines.
- Range
- Central America, Northern South America, Mexico
- Size
- Wingspan of 70 to 90 mm
- Lifespan
- 3 to 5 weeks as adults
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and loss of toxic host vines.
- Safe to approach?
- Completely harmless to handle or observe. Enjoy watching their iridescent flights from any distance. Do not ingest, as they accumulate defensive toxins from their host plants during the larval stage.
Urania fulgens , the urania swallowtail moth , is a day-flying moth of the Uraniidae family. It is found from Veracruz, Mexico, through Central America to northwestern South America (west of the Andes and south to Ecuador). It is highly migratory and has been recorded as a vagrant to Texas, USA.
Photo: Luis Perez, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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