Owl Butterfly

I found this unique, very large butterfly on a recent visit to the Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium in the Milwaukee Public Museum. There were a variety of butterflies, but this one intrigued me the most because of it’s size.

According to Wikipedia…

An owl butterfly is a butterfly, in the genus Caligo, known for their huge eyespots, which resemble owls’ eyes. They are found in the rainforests and secondary forests of Mexico, Central, and South America.

Owl butterflies are very large, 65–200 mm (2.6–7.9 in), and fly only a few meters at a time, so avian predators have little difficulty in following them to their settling place. However, the butterflies preferentially fly in dusk, when few avian predators are around. The Latin name may possibly refer to their active periods. Caligo means darkness.

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