Butterflies are classified as insects and belong to the order Lepidoptera. They have three pairs of legs, two pairs of wings and one pair of antennae (Orr & Kitching 2010). Lepidoptera are defined by many other features including scales and proboscis (Powell 2009). There are more than 120 families within the order Lepidoptera and four suborders containing 160,000 described species (Gullan & Cranston 2010; Krenn 2010). Lepidoptera includes both butterflies and moths. Butterflies are a monophyletic lineage (Powell 2009) and are distributed worldwide in a variety of habitats. They progress through a number of developmental stages including egg, larval, pupal and adult (Powell 2009). They also metamorphose (Orr and Kitching 2010), completely changing their body structure between larval and adult stages. Some species of butterflies have a relatively short life cycle with these species only living for a few days, although there are others that can live for several weeks (Gullan & Cranston 2010) or up to a year (Orr & Kitching 2010). Lifespan can also depend on temperature because butterflies are a cold blooded animal and cannot regulated their body temperature (Orr & Kitching 2010). There are many butterfly species that are specialists (Powell 2009), for example the Mountain Iris Skipper (Mesodina aeluropis), which only breeds on one colour form of the native iris (Patersonia sericea) (Orr & Kitching 2010).
Distinguishing between butterflies and moths: in general…
Butterflies rest with their wings folded upright unlike moths that rest with their wings flat (Orr & Kitching 2010). Butterfly antennae have a knob or hook on the end, in contrast moths usually have feathery antennae (Orr & Kitching 2010). Butterflies are more active during the day whereas moths are more active at night (Orr & Kitching 2010). When caterpillar are fully grown they either make a cocoon of silk (moths) or a chrysalis (butterflies) in which they develop into an adult (Butterfly Life Cycle 2013). Like most things in biology, there are exceptions to these characteristics resulting in some moths being confused as butterflies and vice versa.
Distinguishing between butterflies and moths: in general…
Butterflies rest with their wings folded upright unlike moths that rest with their wings flat (Orr & Kitching 2010). Butterfly antennae have a knob or hook on the end, in contrast moths usually have feathery antennae (Orr & Kitching 2010). Butterflies are more active during the day whereas moths are more active at night (Orr & Kitching 2010). When caterpillar are fully grown they either make a cocoon of silk (moths) or a chrysalis (butterflies) in which they develop into an adult (Butterfly Life Cycle 2013). Like most things in biology, there are exceptions to these characteristics resulting in some moths being confused as butterflies and vice versa.