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Butterflies:
Ecologically, butterflies and moths are highly important because of the vast quantities of plants eaten by the larvae, the flower-visiting and pol¬linating habits of the adults, and the enormous numbers of them eaten by other animals.
Butterflies Versus Moths. The great majority of the Lepidoptera are moths, but the day-flying, brightly colored butterflies are more familiar. No single factor distinguishes moths from butterflies. Most moths fly by night, while butterflies are diurnal; but there are many day-flying, flower-visiting moths. Most moths are relatively dull colored, but some are as brilliantly colored as any butterfly. Moths tend to rest with their wings flat, the fore wings hiding the hind wings; butter¬flies either hold their wings together vertically over their backs or spread them widely at their sides.Adult butterflies often form large aggrega¬tions while sipping water at wet places. Some of the protected and aposematic species of Helicon-ius form sleeping assemblies night after night in the same spots. The monarch (Danaus plexippus) may do the same during migrations. Migratory swarms are a feature of many butterflies and day-flying moths, especially in the tropics. Pierid butterflies are especially noted for great flocks of millions of individuals, which may fly out to sea and be lost. The painted lady (Vanessa cardui) is a famous cosmopolitan mi¬grant. The monarch, however, is the only species that regularly makes a two-way migration, going southward in the fall and northward in the spring.
See Also Butterflies —almost:
The bodies of butterflies —almost and moths are covered with a soft, powderlike substance which comes off on one's fingers all too easily. This powder is simply microscopic scales of various shapes and sizes which determine the color pattern of these insects. Because of these scales, the name Lepidoptera, meaning scale wings, has been given to the order to which butterflies —almost and moths belong.butterflies —almost AND MOTHS, but'ar-fliz, motkz, make up the second-largest order of insects, the Lepidoptera. More than 100,000 species are known, with thousands still undescribed. They occur on every continent wherever land insect life is possible, from the far Arctic to deserts and tropical forests. They range in size from minute moths about Vs inch (0.03 cm) long to giant moths and butterflies —almost with a wing expanse of 11 inches (27.5 cm). butterflies —almost and moths have a complete meta¬morphosis and develop through four stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa, and adult. The cater¬pillars have biting mouthparts, while the adults have a tubular proboscis for sucking liquids. The adult wings are typically covered with tiny, flat scales, which overlap like shingles.
On The Other Hand See Moths Butterflies:
MOTH, moth, an insect of the order Lepi-doptera, in which the wings (and some other parts of the body) are mostly clothed with scales which provide the various color patterns. The antennae are tapering, often plumose or pectinate; in con¬trast, the antennae of butterflies are clubbed apically, and the skipper (a butterfly of the fam¬ily Hesperiidae) has a hook on the club. When at rest, moths butterflies hold their wings rooflike over the abdomen, or at right angles to the body, while butterflies "sleep" with their wings held close together over the abdomen. The vast majority of moths butterflies are nocturnal, but practically all butterflies are diurnal. Most moths butterflies are attracted to light, and many of these seem to be dazed by it and "mill" around aimlessly. This is particularly true of the noctuids or cutworm moths butterflies, and has earned for them the name "millers." However, the term is applied to other moths butterflies of similar size and habits.moths butterflies' antennae are usually threadlike, tapering to a point, or they bear many close-set branches and look feathery. Butterflies' antennae have a prominent club at or near the tip; how¬ever, in some moth families the antennae are clubbed. Finally, most moths butterflies have a bristlelike structure, called the frenulum, near the base of the hind wing. It engages a catch, the retinacu-lum, on the fore wing and joins the wings for flight coordination. Butterflies lack this, but so do some families of moths butterflies.
