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Lepidoptera
Butterflies and Moths, Lepidopterans
Lepidoptera is an order of winged insects comprising approximately 180,000 described species across 126 families and 46 superfamilies, making it the second largest insect order after Coleoptera. The group includes butterflies and moths, distinguished by scaled wings and bodies, complete metamorphosis with caterpillar larvae, and a coiled proboscis in most adults for liquid feeding. The order originated in the Triassic-Jurassic boundary around 200 million years ago and has coevolved extensively with flowering plants.
scaled-wings complete-metamorphosis pollinators agricultural-pests silkworm monarch-butterfly migration mimicry camouflage biodiversity-indicators
Rothschildia lebeau
Lebeau's Silk Moth, Forbes Moth
Rothschildia lebeau is a giant silkmoth in the family Saturniidae, distributed from the Lower Rio Grande Valley through eastern Mexico to Brazil. Adults are short-lived and do not feed, relying on fat reserves accumulated during larval development. The species exhibits a life history tradeoff between larval survival and adult body size based on host plant quality, with larger males showing higher mating success.
giant-silkmoth Saturniidae host-plant-tradeoff sexual-selection tropical-dry-forest Barro-Colorado-Island pheromone-communication non-feeding-adult complete-metamorphosis cultural-significance indigenous-use cocoon-harvesting mating-success body-size-dimorphism seasonal-variation microbial-associations protistan-diversity caterpillar-microbiome herbivore forest-ecology Neotropical Mexico Central-America South-America Panama Costa-Rica Brazil Texas Rio-Grande-Valley exhibit-species butterfly-house education conservation light-pollution suburban-sprawl introduced-parasites rearing cottage-industry vestigial-mouthparts fat-reserves short-lived-adult female-sedentary-behavior male-dispersal oviposition-site-selection fitness-consequences life-history-evolution quantitative-genetic-variation wet-season-phenology developmental-plasticity survival-size-tradeoff herbivore-performance plant-animal-interactions microbial-observatory molecular-characterization eukaryotic-microbiome saturniid-caterpillar Lepidoptera Bombycoidea Rothschildia Guérin-Méneville-1868 Attacus-lebeau Lebeau's-Silk-Moth Forbes-Moth Rothschildia-lebeau-forbesi windows transparent-wing-patches scale-less-wing-areas antennae sexual-dimorphism mate-choice sperm-competition reproductive-success larval-performance caterpillar-growth pupal-development adult-emergence longevity predation bat-predation nocturnal crepuscular moth silkmoth silkworm giant-moth forest-moth tropical-moth Neotropical-fauna biodiversity insect-collection museum-specimen Bohart-Museum American-Museum-of-Natural-History entomology lepidopterology systematics taxonomy natural-history field-study observational-study experimental-ecology evolutionary-ecology behavioral-ecology population-biology community-ecology ecosystem-function food-web trophic-interaction herbivory folivory tree-insect-interaction phenology climate-effects seasonality environmental-variation habitat-heterogeneity host-race ecotype local-adaptation phenotypic-plasticity genetic-variation quantitative-trait trade-off allocation reproductive-allocation parental-investment offspring-size offspring-number optimal-clutch-size mate-competition intrasexual-selection intersexual-selection ornament signal chemical-communication olfaction sensory-ecology foraging movement-ecology dispersal migration home-range activity-pattern diel-cycle circadian-rhythm photoperiod temperature humidity rainfall precipitation dry-season wet-season tropical-seasonality El-Niño climate-change global-warming habitat-disturbance forest-fragmentation deforestation agricultural-expansion urbanization conservation-biology threatened-species common-species population-decline extinction-risk protected-area national-park biological-reserve research-station Smithsonian-Tropical-Research-Institute Barro-Colorado-Island-Nature-Monument Gatun-Lake Panama-Canal Isthmus-of-Panama Central-American-isthmus land-bridge biogeography vicariance dispersal-limitation 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