Obrinus olivewing

The obrinus olivewing is a butterfly from the Amazon and nearby lands of South America. It has a real blue colour in its body. That is very rare, because most blue animals only look blue thanks to a trick of the light.

How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its blue comes from a special colour called pterobilin.
Each of its wings is about 2.5 to 4 centimetres long. Females are a tiny bit bigger.
In some places you can see it flying all year round.
There are three kinds of it, living in different parts of South America.
Most asked questions about Obrinus olivewing
?Why is the obrinus olivewing special?
It is one of the few animals with real blue colouring, instead of blue made by light bouncing off its wings.
?Where does the obrinus olivewing live?
In South America, from Colombia and the Amazon down to northern Argentina.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Nessaea obrinus
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- South America
- Also known as
- Obrina olivewing
Where the facts come from
- Nessaea obrinus (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 Notafly. 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