Madagascan sunset moth
The Madagascan sunset moth is one of the most beautiful insects in the world. Its black wings shimmer with red, orange, blue and green, like a sunset. It flies in the daytime and has six little tails on its wings.
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Fun facts
Its bright colours are not paint. They come from tiny structures in the wing that bend the light, like a soap bubble.
Its caterpillar spins a silk safety line so it can climb back onto the plant if it falls off.
Thousands of these moths travel across Madagascar to find their food plants.
When it was first discovered, people thought it came from China or India.
A mother lays about 80 eggs under the leaves of its food plant.
Most asked questions about Madagascan sunset moth
?Is the sunset moth a butterfly?
No, it is a moth. It flies in the daytime and looks so much like a butterfly that even scientists were fooled at first.
?Where does the sunset moth live?
Only on the island of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa.
?How big is the Madagascan sunset moth?
Its wings are usually 7 to 9 centimetres across, and sometimes up to 11 centimetres.
Myth buster
Myth: The sunset moth is a butterfly.
Truth: No. It is a moth that flies by day. It looks so much like a butterfly that the first scientist who described it thought it was one.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Chrysiridia rhipheus
- Named by
- Drury, 1773
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Uraniidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Uraniidae
- Lives on
- Africa
Where the facts come from
- Chrysiridia rhipheus (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 unknown author. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same 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.
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