Now, everyone knows that butterflies fly during the day and moths at night, and their respective Dutch names of dagvlinder and nachtvlinder even incorporate that fact. Most people also know, however, that some moths are active during the day, such as the Hummingbird Hawk-moth, which has resulted in several laymen coming up to me and claiming they have seen a hummingbird in Europe, the burnets, or this Nine-spotted Moth (Amata phegea) from the Alps.
Fairly recently, though, a group of moths, the Hedylidae, were found to be genetically closer to the butterflies than other moth families and thus reclassified as nocturnal butterflies. There is even one species of Hedylidae, Macrosoma tipulata, which is more active during the day, making it the exception to the exception to the rule, or a day-flying nocturnal butterfly! Try to get your head around that one, or just admire the latest addition to the Cristalino butterfly list, which has now officially passed 1000 confirmed species thanks to these nocturnal butterflies.
Macrosoma sp by Sidnei Dantas
