The Madagascan sunset moth is a day-flying moth of the Uraniidae family. It is considered to be one of the most impressive and beautiful Lepidoptera. Famous worldwide, it is featured in most coffee table books on the Lepidoptera and is much sought after by collectors. It is very colourful, though the iridescent parts of the wings do not have pigment; rather the colours originate from optical interference. The moth was considered to be a butterfly by Dru Drury, who described it in 1773 and placed it in the genus Papilio. Jacob Hübner placed it in the moth genus Chrysiridia in 1823. Later redescriptions led to junior synonyms such as Chrysiridia madagascariensis. At first the moth was thought to be from China or Bengal, but was later found to be endemic to Madagascar. It is found throughout the year in most parts of the island, with peak populations between March and August, and smallest numbers between October and December. Females lay about 80 eggs under the leaves of Omphalea spp. The caterpillars are whitish-yellow with black spots and red feet and are covered in club-ended black setae. Silk spun from the mouth helps the caterpillars hold onto smooth leaves and climb back to the plant when they fall.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysiridia_rhipheus

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1724:

Johann Sebastian Bach debuted the St John Passion, a musical representation of the Passion, at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_Passion

1767:

Troops of the Burmese Konbaung Dynasty sacked the Siamese city of Ayutthaya to end the Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767), bringing the four-century-old Ayutthaya Kingdom to an end. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese%E2%80%93Siamese_War_%281765%E2%80%931767%29

1947:

The Arab Ba'th Party was founded in Damascus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba%27ath_Party

1994:

A FedEx employee tried to hijack Federal Express Flight 705 in a failed suicide attempt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Express_Flight_705

2001:

NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey , currently the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, launched from Cape Canaveral. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Mars_Odyssey

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

lollapalooza (n): (informal) An outstanding, extreme, or outrageous example of its kind http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lollapalooza

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

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When I die, I want to die in a Utopia that I have helped to build. --Henry Kuttner http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner