#lepidoptera

Gyas Jewelmark or Gyas Sarota Metalmark (Sarota gyas), family Riodonidae, Peru

Above: Carriola witti

Moths of the genus Carriola have a very unusual appearance, as their wings are covered in translucent patches that reveal a delicate network of greenish-yellow veins. The green coloration is caused by the haemolymph (the insect equivalent of blood) that passes through these veins when the moth's wings are initially unfurled.

Above: the male form of Carriola thyridophora, with a close-up of the hyaline windows and bright green veins on its wings

The males of this genus typically have brown or beige borders around their wings, while the females have pink or white borders instead. The hyaline windows in each wing also tend to be much clearer and more extensive in the females, which gives their wings a lacey appearance.

Above: the female form of Carriola seminsula

This article describes the adaptive benefits of wing transparency in moths:

The coevolutionary arms race between prey and predator has generated some of the most striking adaptations in the living world, including lures, mimicry and camouflage in prey. Transparency, by definition, constitutes the perfect background matching against virtually all types of backgrounds. Transparency is common in pelagic environments where there is no place to hide.

Above: genus Carriola

Carriola tussock moths can be found in many different countries throughout Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Malaysia. Some of these moths are also found in China, India and Sri Lanka.

Above: Carriola seminsula

This is one of my favorite moths, tbh. I love it when moths have hyaline windows on their wings, and this genus is especially beautiful and bizarre.

Sources & More Info:

Nota Lepidopterologica: Review of the Genus Carriola with Descriptions of Four New Species

Singapore Biodiversity: Carriola ecnomoda

iNaturalist: Genus Carriola

BioRxiv: How Transparent Wing Windows Reduce Detectability in Moths

Journal of Evolutionary Biology: Transparency Improves Concealment in Cryptically Colored Moths (PDF)

🏵️ Ceramic hummingbird hawk-moth sculpture 🏵️

i've spoken at length about how immobile and unresponsive Charaxes jasius tends to be but they do adopt this funny tiptoeing stance when nobody's around for some reason (note how not only are the legs not touching the leaf, even the anal prolegs are raised) and quickly abandon it if you approach. normally you have all the time in the world to take photos of them but if you want to capture this specific behavior you practically have to sprint towards the host plant