I was looking through my Hong Kong Butterflies fieldguide and found some interesting chinese translations:
- Burara gomata (Pale Green Awlet) is 白伞弄蝶 where 白伞 means white umbrella and 弄蝶 describes Hesperiidae
- Pachliopta aristolochiae (Common rose) is 红珠凤蝶 where 红珠 means red pearl and 凤蝶 describes Papilionidae. Interestingly 凤 means phoenix.
- Delias pasithoe (Redbase Jezebel) is 报喜斑粉蝶 which roughly translates to “The spotted Pierid that is the bringer of good news”
- Taraka hamada (forest Pierrot) is 蚜灰蝶 where 蚜 means aphid, and 灰蝶 describes Lycaenidae, since the caterpillars eat aphids.
- Zemeros flegyas (Punchinello) is 波蚬蝶. 波 means wave (the noun), and 蚬蝶 is for Riodinidae. Curiously 蚬 translates to clam.
- Dichorragia nesimachus (constable) is 电蛱蝶 with 电 meaning electricity and 蛱蝶 meaning Nymphalidae