Some Six-Legged Spectacles of the Andean Cloud Forest

I saw vivid and unusual insects (especially butterflies and moths) every single day at Yanayacu.  Is there anything on Earth more beautiful and delicate than the wings of insects?

See those clear windows in the Atlas moth's wings?

This one is like one of those velvet paintings!

This insect is camouflaged to look like an old leaf.

Those spots are meant to trick predators into thinking the moth has enormous eyes.

This is a moth who mimics a wasp to avoid being eaten.

Moths and butterflies rested on every surface imaginable.

Take a look at this grasshopper's jumping legs! 

A well-camouflaged grasshopper.

Rhinoceros beetle with a giant horn.

This moth's wings look like an artist's painting of the solar system.

Take a look that the length of this moth's proboscis 

So many of the moths were fuzzy.

I pinned these for the collection. 

This photo and the ones below were taken inside a butterfly garden in Quito's Jardin Botanico.

Clear wings!

Gorgeous chrysalis.

This boy and his butterfly were too cute not to take a photo!