Adam Lazarus sends in an utterly pedestrian photo of a Japanese moth resting on a wall:
But wait! Have a closer look:
Incredible!
A predatory bird aiming at an apparent moth body will find little more than the empty space between the butterfly’s hindwings, giving our upside-down trickster a chance to escape.
As best I can tell this is a common mapwing, Cyrestis thyodamas. I’m not a Lepidopterist though, so take this ID with a grain of salt.
Nice! These types of mimicry are fascinating.
I’d agree with the ID – but that’s awesome! Had no idea about this behavior. I’d say things that prey on moths are geared towards going for the head – so in this instance they would just get the tails of the butterfly while its head was protected in the “abdomen” space.
which is another way of saying exactly what you did, ha. (should read BEFORE posting).
Looks like a natural stained glass window.
I’m impressed no one has yet stepped in with the obvious phylogenetic perspective that, duh, of course this is still a moth.
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Wow! That’s one of he prettiest I’ve ever seen! What gorgeous markings!
Yes, and it also creates the impression of having a false head in profile too, although it usually settles with wings spread open (e.g. see: http://ifoundbutterflies.org/109-cyrestis/cyrestis-thyodamas-dp2).
That.. is totally cool. Impressions at first were that the tails in the hindwings were mimicking antennae, which is the norm for ‘false head’ mimics, but now I am thinking the tails along with one of the wing border markings are mimicking the spread front legs of the ‘moth’. Totalllly cooool.
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I keep coming back to your site – the photography is amazing! I love the extreme close ups and sense of entering another miniature world!
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That’s amazing!
I’ve seen pictures of those butterflies somewhere, but this one just put a whole new spin on things
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I took your idea and ran with it in my blog! https://rcannon992.com/2018/03/13/which-way-up-to-read-the-map/