Butterfly Facts
Butterfly Facts
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1. Moths and butterflies have four wings that are almost always covered by colored scales. In fact, their scientific name, Lepidoptera comes from two Latin words "lepido" meaning scale and "ptera" meaning wing. 2. Female butterflies usually are bigger and live longer than male butterflies.
3. A butterfly has compound eyes: each eye is made up of about 6,000 tiny lenses.
4. The wings of butterflies and moths are actually transparent. The iridescent scales, which overlap like shingles on a roof, give the wings the colors that we see.
Queen Alexandra's birdwing
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audubon_Insectarium
6. Most butterflies make no sound, but some in Florida and Texas make a loud clicking sound with their wings.
8. Butterflies are related to crabs and lobsters! Like those sea creatures, butterflies have skeletons on the outside of their bodies. They’re arthropods: insects, crustaceans, millipedes, centipedes and arachnids.
9. Butterflies weigh only as much as two rose petals, but can fly thousands of miles.
10. Butterflies can’t hear, but they can feel vibrations. Many butterflies can taste with their feet to find out whether or not the leaf they sit on will be good caterpillar food, and so a good place to lay eggs.
11. A caterpillar grows to about 27,000 times the size it was when it first emerged from its egg. Because the caterpillar’s skin doesn’t grow along with it as ours does, it must periodically shed the skin as it becomes too tight. Most caterpillars molt five times before entering the pupa stage. Butterflies do not get bigger as they age-a young butterfly is a caterpillar!
12. Butterflies don’t have mouths that allow them to bite or chew. They (along with most moths) have a proboscis, a long straw-like structure which they use to drink nectar and juices from tubular flowers that other pollinators can’t reach. When not in use, the proboscis remains coiled like a garden hose.
13. Adult butterflies pollinate many different plant species, and many flowers have specific adaptations for attracting them.
14. Many butterfly attractors bear dense clusters of small flowers so the butterfly can sip nectar simply by moving its proboscis from one blossom to another, thus conserving energy while feeding.
15. Most butterflies (and many other insects) can see ultraviolet, a color that is invisible to human eyes. Many flowers and butterfly wings include ultraviolet in their color mix. Within a species, the presence or absence of these markings typically helps to differentiate between males and females (but hard for us to tell!).
16. Flowers also use the secret communication line of ultraviolet. The flower’s color, form, aroma and nectar guides work together as signals and signposts to efficiently guide the butterfly to the source of nectar.
17. The blooms that we enjoy with our eyes and noses are also the beacons, landing platforms and launching pads for pollinators. In the process, insects get dusted with pollen, which they carry to other flowers. This, in turn, helps the plants produce seed and reproduce.
18. Most butterflies prefer flowers that are pink, red, purple or yellow and that are open all day. Most moths lean toward pale or white flowers that open in the evening.
19. Butterflies and moths live mostly on nectar from flowers and other sugary liquids.
20. They eat through a long, tubular tongue called a proboscis.
21. When they’re not eating, their proboscis coils up under their head like a party blowout.
22. Some moth species are very good at pollinating flowers. One group of moths looks and acts very much like hummingbirds. In fact, their name, the "hummingbird moth" is an indication of how much they resemble hummingbirds. Moths have antennae and a curved proboscis while birds don’t.
23. Butterfly and moth wings are made of thin layers of chitin. This is the same material that makes up the outside of their body.
24. The wings are supported and nourished by veins. These are usually quite easy to see and are kind of like the fingers of your hands. They need to be strong enough to support the insect’s body in the air and flexible enough to move in flight.
25. Butterflies have strong muscles in their thorax. They use these muscles to flap their wings.
26. The wings are covered with tiny scales. The scales come in different colors and are what help us identify different moths and butterflies. Butterflies are cold blooded and depend on the sun to warm them. Dark colors absorb heat. This helps the butterflies warm up faster. Butterflies can’t fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.
27. Although no butterflies are poisonous enough to hurt people, some do have small amounts of poison that makes them bad tasting to birds and other predators. The monarch butterfly is one that birds don’t like to eat.
28. Some other butterflies, like the comma butterfly copy the colors and patterns of the monarch. This makes it less likely that they will be eaten.
29. The Atlas moth lives in Southeast Asia and has markings that make it look like a snake head to scare away predators.
30. Butterflies and moths are found on every continent except Antarctica.
31. Monarch butterflies are unique because they are the only butterflies that migrate south for the winter. Some of these world travelers will fly from southern Canada to Mexico.
Monarch Butterfly
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:HaarFager
32. Butterflies turn into a chrysalis, moths change into a cocoon. The caterpillars undergo a magical change and the outer shell of the chrysalis or cocoon splits to let a new butterfly or moth emerge.
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