Urania (moth)

Urania is a genus of colorful, dayflying moths in the family Uraniidae, native to warmer parts of the Americas. Their larvae feed on Omphalea.

Urania
Urania boisduvalii, Cuba
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Uraniidae
Subfamily:	Uraniinae
Genus:	Urania Fabricius, 1807[1]
Synonyms
Urania Illiger, 1807[2] Lars Hübner, 1807[3] Cydrus Billberg, 1820[4] Cydimon Dalman, 1825[5] Leilus Swainson, 1833[6] Dasycephalus Walker, 1854[7] Uranidia Westwood, 1879[8]

The genus name Urania is Neo-Latin from Latin Urania from Ancient Greek Ουρανία, one of the Muses, literally 'The Heavenly One'.^[9][10]

Distribution

The genus includes relatively large day-flying moths that are found in Mexico (rarely reaching north to Texas as a vagrant), Central America, warmer parts of South America and the Caribbean islands.

Species

• Urania boisduvalii Guérin-Meneville, 1829 – (Cuba)
• Urania brasiliensis Swainson, 1833 – (eastern Brazil)
• Urania leilus Linnaeus, 1758 – green-banded urania (tropical South America east of the Andes)
• Urania fulgens Walker, 1854 – urania swallowtail moth (Mexico, through Central America to northwestern South America)
• Urania poeyi Herrich-Schäffer, 1866 – (eastern Cuba)
• Urania sloanus Cramer, 1779 – Sloane's urania (Jamaica; extinct c. 1894)

Illustration of the now extinct Urania sloanus in Pieter Cramer and Caspar Stoll's De uitlandsche kapellen: voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen Asia, Africa en America