Slideshow

Butterflies of Madidi

Bolivia's Madidi National Park is rich with wildlife—birds of many stripes, mammals large and small, reptiles, fish, and a stunning array of butterflies.

Thanks to the Identidad Madidi expedition, a multi-institutional effort to describe still unknown species in the park and to showcase its wonders, we now know of a staggering 1,080 varieties of butterfly living in Madidi (950 species and an additional 130 subspecies). By comparison, there are approximately 725 in the U.S. and Canada.

Madidi's are pretty spectacular.

FIRST ROW (left to right): Siproeta stelenes, Episcada hymenaea ssp., Cithaerias pireta tambopata, Oleria alexina ssp. SECOND ROW: Caria castalia, Ebrietas anacreon, Junonia genoveva hilaris, Lasaia agesilas THIRD ROW: Melinaea marsaeus ssp., Perrhybris pamela ssp., Amenis pionia pionia, Rethus periander FOURTH ROW: Siproeta apaphus, Ortilia gentina

All photos by Mileniusz Spanowicz/WCS