Moths and such...

The Moth Survey period is ending, and as I am ashamed to say I haven't had the chance to do a proper moth trap myself, I thought I'd slightly redeem myself by sharing some interesting facts about moths and butterflies with you. Enjoy...


Butterflies and moths are in the same family - Lepidoptera (meaning 'scale wing' - because of the powdery coating of coloured particles that cover their wings). You can usually tell the two groups apart by using a number of 'rules', but there are exceptions to the rules in every case. This means that the distinction between butterflies and moths is not based on any clear physical differences between the two groups, so perhaps the most correct classification is to refer to them all as the same group and not as 'butterflies' or 'moths'!
But I'm not that pedantic, so here's the best way of telling the difference.


Moths:
mostly fly at night,
usually rest with wings apart or folded flat over back,
usually have slender or feathery antennae,
often pupate in a silken coccoon,
frequently are plain coloured and drab (greys and browns),
commonly have stout, furry bodies.


Butterflies:
mostly fly in daytime,
usually rest with wings closed,
mostly have slender antennae with a blob (or 'club') on the end,
pupate in a hardened crysalis,
mostly are brightly coloured and patterned,
commonly have smooth, thinner bodies.


Some exceptions:
Day-flying moths like the burnet moths (which also have rather clubbed antennae).
Elephant Hawk-moth and Hummingbird Hawk-moth are brightly coloured and patterned.

Hedylid butterflies fly at night.
Families like Whites and Browns are often quite drab.
Skipper family rest with wings apart (as do some other species at times to maintain a good body temperature).


I hope this has been interesting and informative for you.
Stay tuned for more 'interesting stuff', Nature Gazers!