Butterfly on an ancient mirror

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Greykhan, 02.04.2010 13:48

Good day to you, dear forumchane. I am puzzling over the image of butterflies on an ancient Chinese mirror. let's say the plot is isolated and completely uncharacteristic
user posted image

help us determine what kind of view it is... I assumed that this is some kind of hawk moth, depicted in the middle of bee cells with honey, by analogy with the death's head hawk moth. are there any species of hawkmoth in Primorye or Transbaikalia that feed not only on nectar or plant juice, but also on honey?
Sincerely yours, Sergey

Comments

Pages: 1 2

02.04.2010 14:52, Greykhan

by pattern... the fact is that this is a pattern for us now-just a pattern, but in the past there was nothing random. each pattern carried a certain semantic load. there is a pattern - wind, waves, birch branch, bear's ear, dovetail. and its application or application should have been appropriate. it's like now Dynamo fans would wear the inscription on the Dynamo scarf, and under it was the emblem of Spartak. I exaggerate of course... in the case of the silkworm, it doesn't actually host its larvae(is that what it's called?) geometrically ordered? but the honeycombs of the same bees are arranged in the form of multiple hexagonal cells, just like the pattern on the mirror.
in general, - it is impossible to determine?

02.04.2010 15:21, Ekos

according to the seaside hawk moth, I found such information that Tatarinov's hawk moth lives there( and they refer that the biology and method of nutrition are not studied) and the eastern ocular hawk moth, plus 2 more species, whose names in Latin I did not remember.

There are about 30 species of hawk moth in Primorye, but none of them feeds on honey from honeycombs. They prefer flowers mainly, sometimes-fermented sap of trees. The biology of the Tatarinov hawk moth (Callambulyx tatarinovi) and the eastern eye moth (Smerinthus planus) is well studied and they do not pierce the combs with their proboscis in search of honey. And if you take honey released from honeycombs and exposed in an open place (for example, in troughs), then almost half of the region's butterfly fauna will flock there (and this is hundreds, I'm not afraid, thousands of species – - butterflies love sweets:)) And if honey also ferments – then there will be a crowd here in general – lepidoptera with a developed proboscis do not disdain alcohol:)

This post was edited by Ekos-02.04.2010 15: 24

02.04.2010 17:04, Aaata

I'm all for cicada. Purely external similarities are most common.

"Death's head", as a migrant flies and now in those parts, including the south of Primorye, and in those days, it is possible that this could be commonplace. Of course, the species is different, not European, and originates from Southeastern Asia, most likely Acherontia styx, which is recorded up to 48 degrees N (Rolf Reinbardt and Kurt Harz: Wandernde Schw(a) rmerarten, 1989). A. lachesis is less likely, but not excluded. The master could even display it under the impression of a one-time meeting, not necessarily something that occurs every day or is economically significant.

And stylization largely depends on the individual vision of the artist. Especially if it does not have a traditional canonical character, and here, apparently, this is the case. If there are no similar works, there is still divination.

This post was edited by Aaata - 02.04.2010 18: 45

Likes: 1

03.04.2010 3:20, Ekos

I'm all for cicada. Purely external similarities are most common.

"Death's head", as a migrant flies and now in those parts, including the south of Primorye, and in those days, it is possible that this could be commonplace. Of course, the species is different, not European, and originates from Southeastern Asia, most likely Acherontia styx, which is recorded up to 48 degrees N (Rolf Reinbardt and Kurt Harz: Wandernde Schw(a) rmerarten, 1989). A. lachesis is less likely, but not excluded.

Give specific evidence supported by collectible material

, they probably just don't exist. In the new catalog of lepidoptera of Russia edited by S. Yu. Sinev (2008), Acherontia lachesis (Fabricius, 1798) is indicated for the south of Primorye. But again, on what basis – it is not clear.