Ancient butterfly’s ‘scary eyes’ still intact after 30 MILLION years

Last updated: 2026/04/07 at 4:36 PM

William McGee

3 Min Read

The fossil of a prehistoric butterfly that lived between 28 to 34 million years ago has its scary “eyespots” still perfectly intact.

It is so well preserved that the body and wings are still clearly visible.

This is incredibly rare for insects of this age – most are found as tiny fragments or just scattered scales.

- Advertisement -

The fossil was first discovered by German collector and researcher Herbert Lutz during excavations at the Calcaire de Campagne Calavon limestone formation near Céreste-en-Luberon, France.

After sitting in museum collections for decades, scientists have only now been able to study it in detail.

Their findings were published online on 26 March in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, as reported by Whats The Jam.

A 34-million-year-old butterfly fossil, with predator-fooling eyespots perfectly intact, reveals a new extinct species filling a major gap in butterfly evolution. — *The findings of an ancient butterfly with scary eyespots still perfectly intact after sitting in museum collections for decades. (Illustration) (Jam Press/H. Rajaei et al)*

With a wingspan of around 9cm (3.5in), the fossil is remarkable for preserving multiple anatomical details, including much of the thorax and abdomen, as well as the wing veins.

The ocelli – the “eye” patterns on the wings that butterflies evolved to startle predators – are also clearly visible.

- Advertisement -

When the wings suddenly open, the two large eyes can momentarily confuse a predator, giving the butterfly a chance to escape.

Led by Hossein Rajaei of the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany, researchers say this is the first fossil definitively assigned to the emperor butterfly subfamily, Apaturinae, filling a major gap in the fossil record.

The fossil represents a previously unknown species, named Apaturoides monikae, which lived at least 26 million years before woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed cats appeared.

- Advertisement -

While some features resemble modern Apatura, the fossil – first found in 1979 – shows a unique combination of wing shape and venation that is now extinct.

Rajaei said: “This find provides an important empirical basis for better understanding when and how the most important butterfly groups evolved and diversified.”