Staff sergeant
Athyma selenophora
The staff sergeant is a big black butterfly with bold white bands across its wings, like stripes on a uniform. Underneath, its wings are a bright chestnut red with white markings. It lives in warm forests in Asia.
Lives in
Tropical and subtropical Asia, including the Himalayas, India and Myanmar
Wingspan
6.6 to 7.2 cm (2.6 to 2.8 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of a tree called haldu.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 2 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 24 seconds
How big is Staff sergeant compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Staff sergeant about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its wings are about 7 centimetres from tip to tip.
2
The female is velvety brownish black, with more white spots than the male.
3
In the dry season both males and females are brown instead of black.
you asked
Most asked questions about Staff sergeant
?Where does the staff sergeant butterfly live?
In warm parts of Asia, like the Himalayas, India and Myanmar.
?How big is the staff sergeant?
Its wings are about 6.5 to 7 centimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Athyma selenophora
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- Asia
Where the facts come from
- Athyma selenophora (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by L. Shyamal. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Monarch butterfly
Peacock butterfly
Blue morpho
Old World swallowtail
Small white
Eastern tiger swallowtail
Swifts' ant-hunter spider
Lilly pilly leaf beetle
Goliath birdeater
Goliath beetle
New World screwworm fly
Giant huntsman spider