Ever wondered how those intricate designs landed on the wings of the millions of butterflies fluttering around you? The master craftsman in heaven needs to be credited with the eye for detail that makes each design different. Counting the inhabitants of the butterfly family is beyond comprehension. So are the crafty designs that adorn their flimsy wings. We have here for you a list of 20 most beautiful butterflies that inhabit the earth, and this comes as a continuation to the UN International Year of Forests series. Tell us if you like it.

Eighty-Eight Butterfly:

Anna’s Eighty-eight (Diaethria anna) is a butterfly in wet tropical forests in Central America and South America. On rare occasions, it can be found as a stray in south Texas.

Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly:

The Zebra Swallowtail is a swallowtail butterfly native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada. Its distinctive wing shape and long tails make it easy to identify, and its black and white-striped pattern is reminiscent of a zebra.

Orange Barred Sulphur Butterfly:

The Orange-barred Sulphur is a rare stray from the far southern states. This mainly tropical butterfly has been found only four times in Wisconsin, but as with the other strays, you never know when you might get a glimpse of this species.

Spicebush swallowtail Butterfly:

The spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) is a common black swallowtail butterfly found in North America, also known as the Green-Clouded butterly. It has two subspecies, Papilio troilus troilus and Papilio troilus ilioneus, found mainly in the Florida peninsula. The spicebush swallowtail derives its name from its most common host plant, the spicebush, members of the genus Lindera.

Malachite Butterfly:

Siproeta stelenes, commonly known as the Malachite, is a neotropical brush-footed butterfly (family Nymphalidae). The malachite has large wings that are black and brilliant green or yellow-green on the uppersides and light brown and olive green on the undersides. It is named for the mineral malachite, which is similar in color to the bright green on the butterfly’s wings.

Ulysses butterfly:

The Ulysses butterfly, Papilio ulysses, also known as the Blue Mountain Butterfly, or the Blue Mountain Swallowtail is a large swallowtail butterfly, endemic to Australasia.

Common Evening Brown Butterfly:

The Common Evening Brown, is a common species of butterfly found flying at dusk. The flight of this species is erratic. They are found in Africa, South Asia and South-east Asia extending to parts of Australia.

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly:

The Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) also called the American Swallowtail or Parsnip Swallowtail,is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of Oklahoma.

Leopard Lacewing Butterfly:

The Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane) is a species of heliconiine butterfly found from India to southern China (southern Yunnan), and Indochina. Its range has expanded in the last few decades, and its arrival in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, including Singapore, is relatively recent.

Red Pierrot Butterfly:

The Red Pierrot (Talicada nyseus) is a small but striking butterfly found in South Asia and South-East Asia belonging to the Lycaenids or Blues family. Red Pierrots, flying weakly around and perching on the Kalanchoe plant, are usually noticed by excited children in gardens due to their beautiful striking patterns and colours.

Glasswing Butterfly:

The Glasswinged butterfly (Greta oto) is a brush-footed butterfly, and is a member of the subfamily Danainae, tribe Ithomiini, subtribe Godyridina.

Great Purple Hairstreak Butterfly:

The Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus), also called the great blue hairstreak, is a common North American butterfly. The larvae (Caterpillars) feed on mistletoe (Phoradendron) species.

Common Jezebel Butterfly:

The Common Jezebel (Delias eucharis) is a medium sized pierid butterfly found in many areas of South and Southeast Asia, especially in the non-arid regions of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. The Common Jezebel is one of the most common species in the genus Delias.

Blue Morpho Butterfly:

A Morpho butterfly may be one of over 80 species of butterflies in the genus Morpho. They are Neotropical butterflies found mostly in South America as well as Mexico and Central America.

Blue Pansy Butterfly:

Junonia orithya is a nymphalid butterfly with many subspecies occurring from Africa, through southern and south-eastern Asia, and in Australia. In India its common English name is the Blue Pansy, but in southern Africa it is known as the Eyed Pansy.

Anomalous Common Nawab Butterfly:

The Anomalous Common Nawab (Polyura agraria) is a butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the Rajahs and Nawabs group, that is, the Charaxinae group of the Brush-footed butterflies family. The name is based on their resemblance to the Common Nawab Polyura athamas which was described prior to the discovery of the species.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly:

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is a species of swallowtail butterfly native to North America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States, where it is common in many different habitats. It flies from spring to fall, during which it produces two to three broods.

Goliath Birdwing Butterfly:

The Goliath Birdwing (Ornithoptera goliath) is a birdwing butterfly found in New Guinea, and is the third-largest butterfly in the world.

Banded Peacock Butterfly:

The Common Banded Peacock (Papilio crino) is a species of swallowtail (Papilionidae) butterfly found in parts of South Asia, including India and Sri Lanka.

Monarch Butterfly:

The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae), in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer.