Butterflies and Moths

Hi! During the last month, I have been making my own Lepidoptera models. To make them, I used wood, silliccone (covered with sawdust so it can be painted), metal wires and paint. I made nineteen of them, all representing actual species.
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CHRYSIRIDIA RHIPHEUS

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URANIA LEILUS

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ANTHERAEA POLYPHEMUS

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HYALOPHORA CECROPIA

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NOCTUA PRONUBA (female)

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XESTIA INUITICA (female)

Here are more (sorry to put them by groups; it is very exhausting otherwise):

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COLIAS PHILODICE (male)

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HELICONIUS CHARITHONIA

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LIMENITIS ARTHEMIS

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EACLES IMPERIALIS (male)

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SYMPISTIS PIFFARDI

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ANANIA FUNEBRIS GLOMERALIS

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HYPERCOMPE SCRIBONIA (female)

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NERICE BIDENDATA

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ACTIAS LUNA (looks small, but is actually the biggest piece of my series)

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HYLES LINEATA

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GLAUCOPSYCHE LYGDAMUS COUPERI

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SCHINIA FLORIDA

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ARMANDIA LIDDERDALEI

You are clearly in a lepidopteran wave and it is so nice that it ended like this. It is very clever that you use your artistry, your cleverness to use materials and your interest in these animals to make your own figures. They really look great and species choices are interesting. Nice that you included some moths too.

Nice figurines of a lot of interesting species :)

Butterflies and moths ! Of course !!!

Where else can your incredible sence of materials and colours be more put to use ?

A sentence as : " I covered the silliccone with sawdust to be able to paint it.." illustrates your special talent with materials .

I can't find words for my admiration and delight in these unique models

Somebody ought to make an exhibition of your work

Thank you all for your compliments! As you may have noticed, most of the species represented are from Estern North America. In other words, species that can be found in my home region or close to it. Those that are exotic were chosen, at least for a few of them, because they were illustrated in old dictionnaries that I have (it's the case of Armandia lidderdalei and Chrysiridia Rhipheus). And furthermore, the species have been chosen... because of the shape of the pieces of wood that I had. For example, I made "Hyles Lineata" "Xestia inuitica", "Nerice bidendata" and "Sympistis piffardi" because I had wood remains that were cut in a very narrow shape. I used those specific pièces of wood to make the wings of narrow-winged moths species. As for the Glaucopsyche butterfly, it is one of my smallest pièces because it was made with small remains of wood (and Glaucopsyche is a small species already, so...). And most of all, (except for the Luna Moth and the Cecropia, two species I particularly like), I chose species that were never represented as toys. So, I gave the chance to not-so-well-known species to be represneted as well.

Did Blaine Mathison see my Lépidoptères? I'm curious to know what he thinks of them...

They are very well done, I like them a lot :)

A twentieth one is on its way! But I'm not telling you the species yet. It will be a surprise.

Bowhead Whale wrote:

A twentieth one is on its way! But I'm not telling you the species yet. It will be a surprise.

Well, as it is surely impossible to guess it, let's go for a surprise!

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Here it is: DIACHRYSIA BALLUCA.

Now, I have twenty. A "round" number (chiffre rond), like we say in french. I'm happy to have made these, yet I feel a little sad for all the species I didn't make (lack of thin pièces of wood to make the wings)...

The green-patched looper, another North American species and again a moth. Green color and moths marked you these last days. We also use the same expression in Portuguese language, número redondo just means round number too. I am sure you will be able of finding more material or other different resources and make another series of these wonderful insects.

Moths species are a lot more numerous in my home province than butterfly species. Maybe it's the reason why I made 15 moth species and only 5 butterfly species. But you also say that the green color marked me these days. Are you refering to the Toy Major Luna Moth made with a butterfly mold?

As for new material.... maybe I could use my big remains of blocks of wood to sculpt other kinds of insects?

Bowhead Whale wrote:

Moths species are a lot more numerous in my home province than butterfly species. Maybe it's the reason why I made 15 moth species and only 5 butterfly species. But you also say that the green color marked me these days. Are you refering to the Toy Major Luna Moth made with a butterfly mold?

Precisely, I have spent also some time searching for green butterflies and I wasn't successful. I was not daring enough to expect it could be a moth. About your preference for doing moths, I applaud it. Moths are relatively common and brands rarely favour them.

As for new material.... maybe I could use my big remains of blocks of wood to sculpt other kinds of insects? [/quote]

It is surely a good idea, don't take me wrong but I think one of them could be the Diapheromera femorata , present in your region, I guess, and a very interesting animal.

Roger wrote:

Bowhead Whale wrote:

Moths species are a lot more numerous in my home province than butterfly species. Maybe it's the reason why I made 15 moth species and only 5 butterfly species. But you also say that the green color marked me these days. Are you refering to the Toy Major Luna Moth made with a butterfly mold?

Precisely, I have spent also some time searching for green butterflies and I wasn't successful. I was not daring enough to expect it could be a moth. About your preference for doing moths, I applaud it. Moths are relatively common and brands rarely favour them.

As for new material.... maybe I could use my big remains of blocks of wood to sculpt other kinds of insects?

It is surely a good idea, don't take me wrong but I think one of them could be the Diapheromera femorata , present in your region, I guess, and a very interesting animal. [/quote]

A walking stick bug? Maybe... yet I would have to find a way of attaching solidly the legs on the wooden-stick-made body... I also thougt of Gerridae species (I could make two or three); I could make the legs with metal wire with thin wooden sticks glued (with silliccone) on them between the articulations. I could also make weesils, sculpting the bodies in my wooden block pièces. But my hands are rather small, and I fear to lack muscle strength for that. I will have to think about it.

Actually, I don't exactly "prefer" to make moths over butterflies: I love both categories. It's just that my province is a lot richer in moth species than in butterfly species. Among my 5 butterfly species made, two are exotic...

As for the Toy Major Luna Moth-painted butterfly, it's the saturnid-like ocellates on the wings that made me realize that specific piece was not a butterfly. No green butterfly has ocellates like those, and all the green species of butterflies I could find had more or less large black boarders on their wings. However, the last time I went to that discussion page, I realized Blaine was considering my theory to be Worth attention. Anyway, to me (if Blaine agrees, of course), it would be Worth putting the Toy Major ocellated-winged green butterfly among the Luna Moth figures; under its picture, on its open page, we could textually specify that this Luna Moth was actually casted from a Papilio butterfly mold. What do you think?

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DEILEPHILA ELPENOR

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ASCALAPHA ODORATA (female)

I'M NOT REASONNABLE!!! I MADE TWO MORE MOTHS! Just like if I didn't make enough!!!! I have made twenty-two figures of twenty-two species of lépidoptères now. And a twenty-third one is on its way...

Nice figurines again :)

I think your choice for a black witch moth is very adjusted to the date. Wonderful moths again and looking forward to see the 23th one as well as your other projects.
About the Toy Major swallowtail, I renamed it to a luna moth under your suggestion. Eventually I will add a note and it will remain like that until someone find a better approach. :)

Roger wrote:

I think your choice for a black witch moth is very adjusted to the date. Wonderful moths again and looking forward to see the 23th one as well as your other projects.
About the Toy Major swallowtail, I renamed it to a luna moth under your suggestion. Eventually I will add a note and it will remain like that until someone find a better approach. :)

My 23rd Lepidoptere model is finihed and I will photograph it tomorrow. Would you like to guess what it is?

Bowhead Whale wrote:

Roger wrote:

I think your choice for a black witch moth is very adjusted to the date. Wonderful moths again and looking forward to see the 23th one as well as your other projects.
About the Toy Major swallowtail, I renamed it to a luna moth under your suggestion. Eventually I will add a note and it will remain like that until someone find a better approach. :)

My 23rd Lepidoptere model is finihed and I will photograph it tomorrow. Would you like to guess what it is?

Yes, I suppose it is a vampire moth.

Lovely works! I find the Ascalapha odoratha especially beautiful