| Urania Swallowtail Moth | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Uraniidae |
| Subfamily: | Uraniinae |
| Genus: | Urania |
| Species: | U. fulgens |
| Binomial name | |
| Urania fulgens (Walker, 1854) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Urania Swallowtail Moth (Urania fulgens) is a day-flying moth of the Uraniidae family. It is found from Veracruz, Mexico, through Central America to northwestern South America (west of the Andes and south to Ecuador).[1][2] It is highly migratory and has been recorded as a vagrant to Texas, USA.[2]
It is sometimes confused with the similar U. leilus, but that species is found east of the Andes in South America, is slightly larger, and has more white to the "tail".[1] The two have been treated as conspecific.[1]
As appears to be the case for all Urania, the larvae of U. fulgens feed exclusively on the toxic Omphalea species.[3]