The heaviest butterfly with huge wings was found in Australia

Many people are afraid of Australia, because it is home to huge spiders, snakes and other creepy creatures. Here is another fearsome animal for you — the heaviest butterfly in the world, Endoxyla cinereus. The females of these creatures are so heavy that they cannot fly and most of the time they just wait for the males to mate. Due to the fact that they spend most of their time in trees and die quickly, people very rarely meet them in the wild. But recently, the builders of the Mount Hotton School were lucky enough to see an unusual butterfly live and shoot it on camera. In this article, we will talk about what impression the huge insect made on the people who found it and what interesting things are known about these creatures. We will also find out what about several more record-breaking butterflies that live on our planet.

In an interview for the ABC edition, the headmaster of the school Meagan Steward (Meagan Steward) she said that the size of the wall butterfly was like "two fists". Its wingspan reached 25 centimeters, and its body weight was 30 grams. After the people who found the butterfly examined it from all sides and took a photo, it was released to the rainforest located next to the school. After an unusual meeting, the students were asked to compose fantastic stories with an intimidating creature. But all this is not the main thing.

According to entomologist Christine Lambkin, the school staff was lucky enough to see a butterfly of the species Endoxyla cinereus. At its core, this is a giant tree moth, which is considered the heaviest in the world. Males are usually small and fly perfectly, but the mass of females reaches 30 grams and because of this they can not lift their body into the air. In most cases, when people meet the females of these butterflies, they just slowly crawl along the branches of trees. It may seem that three dozen grams is a small weight, but the entomologist assures that it is quite difficult to lift such creatures. It sounds doubtful, but let's take your word for it.

Entomology is a branch of science for the study of insects. At the moment, science knows about the existence of more than 3 million species of insects, but this number is constantly increasing. For example, recently several new species of insects were named after the heroes of Marvel comics.

Females of the Endoxyla cinereus species are also not easy to meet because they immediately die after laying eggs. The color of the wings of these creatures varies from brown to dark gray with various patterns. The photo shows that the builders managed to find a patterned individual. Also, these creatures are very rare because they live only in Australia and New Zealand, and are active only at night. In the caterpillar stage, these creatures are even more secretive hiding in the trunks of eucalyptus trees.