[Daily article] April 7: Chrysiridia rhipheus

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>

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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>

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Wiktionary's word of the day:

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

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Wikiquote quote of the day:

88px 

 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>

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