One for Cali.

[Calilasseia]

Curculionidae, but can't narrow it down further than that. Especially if it's South African.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com ... ct-photos/

[Calilasseia]

A while back the Daily Mail, a paper that most here (myself included) usually view with scorn and derision, posted a series of photos entitled Butterfly Alphabet. Wing patterns featuring every letter of the alphabet. The article is here.

[Svartalf]

How can one be so beautiful and so evil?

[JimC]

How can one be so beautiful and so evil?

Perhaps a gay sub-editor was mistakenly allowed to do his own thing for once...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Common Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides) native to Costa Rica.
Same with wings folded.

And again.

Probably a moth?

I think this is a "Common Mormon" ( ) (Paplio ploytes), native to Southeast Asia.

Dunno.

The Paper Kite (Idea Leuconoe) native to Malaysia and the Philippines.

A swallowtail, but the back lighting is making it tough...

[Calilasseia]

I have a photo somewhere of a Morpho peleides sitting on my hand.

Brown butterfly is a nymphalid. Junonia hedonia to be precise.

Your "Common Mormon" actually looks more to me like Papilio lowi, courtesy of the yellow markings on the hindwings.

The mytery butterfly with black and white wingtips could be any of several possibilities. If the wings were long and narrow, then it's a Heliconiine butterfly, possibly Heliconius ismenius.

The backlit swallowtail looks like Papilio lowi again.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The second appears to be Caligo memnon. (Owl butterfly.) Easy for a layman to confuse it with the Morpho peleides when the wings are folded.

[Calilasseia]

Actually, it's a bit difficult to tell which of the 15 or so Caligo species of Owl Butterfly you have, just from the underside pattern alone. To be absolutely sure, you need to see the upperside pattern too. For example, if the upperside is a sort of gunmetal blue and brown mixture, then you probably have Caligo eurilochus or Caligo illioneus. If the upperside has bright orange markings, then you possibly have Caligo beltrao. However, with some of the species, you also need geographical location information to be more certain, and in the case of one or two of the Costa Rican species, the only sure fire way to tell them apart is a genital dissection. If the butterfly in question is Amazonian, then you need to know which part of the Amazonian rainforest it comes from, because there are some species that look alike even with respect to upperside wing patterns, but which are genuinely separate species, and which have different geographical ranges within the Amazonian rainforest.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I'm just going by the Map and Visitor's Guide. They didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.

[Calilasseia]

Here you go, a few examples of what to expect from Owl Butterflies when you see the uppersides ...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I'll have to ask them for an ID. I only saw the one.

[Faithfree]

Not marine life, but check out this crazy little fella. Peacock Spider.

Meet the Peacock spider (Maratus volans) a species of jumping spider native to eastern Australia. Only 5mm in length, it is only the males that have this bright colouring.

The males also have extensions on their abdomen that can be folded down. They use these to display their colours and markings to females, earning them their name of 'peacock'. The male will first raise his abdomen, then raise his flaps forming a veritable field of colour. The male will then vibrate his raised legs and tail and dance from one side to another in an attempt to impress the female.

The dance of the peacock spider put to music (*Warning* - some near spider porn at the end)

Fast forward to 1:20 if the start is a bit boring.

[Seth]

Not marine life, but check out this crazy little fella. Peacock Spider.

Meet the Peacock spider (Maratus volans) a species of jumping spider native to eastern Australia. Only 5mm in length, it is only the males that have this bright colouring.

Wow! That's amazing video.

It seems female Peacock Spiders are almost as fickle as human females...