Finally, a few butterfly world records:
Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing (largest butterfly)
Atlas Moth (largest moth)
Western Pygmy Blue (possibly the smallest butterfly)
Monarch (longest migration route)
Skippers (fastest fliers), see “A word on speed and altitude”
Painted Lady (most widespread and highest flying)
The Atlas moth is the world's largest moth. Its body is relatively small, but its wingspan can be up to 30 cm. It flies in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It has no mouth and lives for only a couple of weeks on food reserves from the caterpillar stage. Its two wingtips look like a dragon's head.
The Atlas moth is officially the world's largest moth, but the South American White Witch actually has the world's largest wingspan, which can exceed 30 cm. The Atlas moth wins the title, however, because of its larger wing area.
Queen Alexandra's birdwing is the world's largest butterfly, with a wingspan of up to 21 cm. It lives in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea. The photo shows specimens caught in 1907 by Albert S. Meek, which can be seen at the Manchester Museum. The butterfly is named after the English Queen Alexandra, who was Danish-born.
Queen Alexandra's birdwing is the world's largest butterfly, with a wingspan of up to 21 cm. It lives in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea. It is endangered because of rainforest clearance. The photo shows the female, with a wingspan of 18–21 cm, which can be seen at the Manchester Museum.
The Western Pygmy Blue may be the world’s smallest butterfly – the size of a fingernail, with a wingspan of only 13–20 mm. It lives in desert and other barren areas in southern North America, on Hawaii and in the Middle East. Another contender for the title is a different blue (Micropsyche ariana), which is very rare and lives only in Afghanistan (not shown in the photo)
The Monarch (Danaus plexippus) is the butterfly that makes the longest journey in the world. Every autumn the North American Monarch flies up to 4,500 km from southern Canada to the mountains of Mexico. The trip takes from 6 weeks to 2 months, depending on the weather. After overwintering, the journey north begins again, though not directly but in stages. New generations take over the baton along the way, and it takes 3–5 short-lived generations before the destination is reached. The last northern generation (called the super generation) makes the long, direct journey back to the southern wintering grounds.
The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) is the most widespread butterfly in the world. It is absent only from South America and Antarctica. It is also claimed to be the highest-flying, having been seen at a height of 3,050 metres. Every year it migrates from North Africa up through Europe – even as far as the Arctic Circle. Experts regularly debate whether the Painted Lady actually has a longer migration route than the North American Monarch, which has so far held the official record.