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1. What is the difference between a butterfly and a
moth?
Butterflies and moths are evolutionarily related group of insects, called
lepidoptera, that share many characteristics, including having wings covered
with scales. The word lepidoptera means scaly (lepido) winged (ptera). There are
many families of moths and butterflies within the lepidoptera. Of these, we call
2 related super-families, the true butterflies (Papilionoidea) and the skippers
(Hesperoidea) "butterflies."
Many butterflies are very colorful and almost all butterflies are active
exclusively during the day. In contrast, most moths are fairly drably colored
and are active at night. But there are quite a few butterflies that are dull and
quite a few moths that are brilliantly colored and fly during the daytime. A
better way to distinguish moths and butterflies is to look at their antennas.
Butterfly antennas are shaped somewhat like a golf club, with a long shaft that
has a "club" at its end. The vast majority of moths have antennas that are
either simple filaments, tapering to a point at their ends, or are very
complicated structures with many cross filaments, looking somewhat like radar
antennas. Back to Top
2. How many kinds of butterflies are there?
There are approximately 20,000 species of butterflies in the world. About 725
species have occurred in North American north of Mexico, with about 575 of these
occurring regularly in the lower 48 states of the United States, and with about
275 species occurring regularly in Canada. Roughly 2000 species are found in
Mexico. Back to Top
3. How many kinds of butterflies can I find near
where I live?
In most parts of the United States, you can find roughly 100 species of
butterflies near your home. The number is higher in the Rio Grande Valley and
some parts of the West, somewhat less in New England. As one goes northward into
Canada the number decreases, while as one goes southward into Mexico the number
greatly increases. Back to Top
4. How long does a butterfly live?
An adult butterfly probably has an average life-span of approximately one month.
In the wild, most butterflies lives are shorter than this because of the dangers
provided by predators, disease, and large objects, such as automobiles. The
smallest butterflies may live only a week or so, while a few butterflies, such
as Monarchs, Mourning Cloaks and tropical heliconians, can live up to nine
months. Back to Top
5. What kind of binoculars should I use for
butterflying?
The most important requirement of binoculars for butterflying is that they allow
you to focus on objects (butterflies) that are close to you. With most
binoculars, if an object is closer than 12 feet away, the binoculars cannot
focus properly on the object and it will appear fuzzy. Since you can approach
butterflies very closely, we strongly recommend that you use binoculars that
focus sharply on objects that under 6 feet away. Please see
Binoculars for Butterflying for more information on
this topic. Back to Top
6. What is the origin of the word "butterfly."
No one really knows the origin of this word. It is possible that it arose from
the butter-yellow color of common European butterflies called sulphurs.
Back to Top
7. Where do butterflies spend the night?
At night, or during inclement weather, most butterflies perch on the underside
of a leaf, crawl deep between blades of grass or into a crevice in rocks, or
find some other shelter, and sleep.
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8. How do butterflies spend the winter?
In areas where temperatures drop below freezing during part of the winter, at
least one stage in a butterfly species' life cycle must be resistant to freezing
if the species is resident. Most butterflies that live in cold climates spend
the winter as caterpillars, while almost as many spend the winter as pupas. A
few species, mainly tortoiseshells (Nymphalis) and anglewings (Polygonia), spend
the winter as adults, hibernating in holes in trees, in crevices in man-made
structures, or in other shelters. A very few species spend the winter as eggs.
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9. Do butterfly boxes work?
Unfortunately, no. While so-called butterfly boxes can be attractive, and do
little harm, studies have shown that butterflies do not use them in any way.
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10. What do butterflies eat?
Most adult butterflies drink nectar from flowers through their tongues, which
function much like straws. A minority of butterflies almost never visits
flowers, instead gaining sustenance from tree sap, rotting animal matter, and
other organic material.
Butterfly caterpillars almost all eat plant matter. Mainly the caterpillars
eat leaves, but some species eat seeds and seed pods while others specialize on
flowers. Most species will eat only a small group of related plant species --
for example Pearl Crescent caterpillars will eat species of asters. Some
species, such as Gray Hairstreaks, will eat a wide variety of plants and some
will eat only a single plant species. Although they eat plants, very few
butterfly caterpillars are agricultural pests and if caterpillars are destroying
some of your garden plants, it is unlikely that they are butterflies (unless you
planted those plants specifically to attract butterflies). The caterpillar of
one North American butterfly,the Harvester, eats aphids.
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11. Do butterflies migrate?
Yes. Many butterflies that spend the summer in temperate North America cannot
survive northern winters. Each year, as the weather becomes warmer, butterflies
from Mexico and the southern United States fly north to repopulate these
regions. Species that move northward each year include Cloudless Sulphur, Little
Yellow, Gulf Fritillary, Painted Lady, American Lady, Red Admiral, Common
Buckeye, Long-tailed Skipper, Clouded Skipper, Fiery Skipper, Sachem, and Ocola
Skipper. For most species these northward dispersals are gradual, but, in
especially good years, one can see Painted Ladies, Cloudless Sulphurs or Clouded
Skippers streaming northward along migratory routes.
For some species the reverse migration, south in the fall, is more obvious.
Cloudless Sulphurs, Mourning Cloaks, Question Marks, and especially Queens and
Monarchs can sometimes be found moving southward in groups of thousands. Exactly
where all of these butterflies go is not known. Monarchs are the most well-known
of migratory butterflies. But even here our knowledge is limited. We know that
most of the Monarchs from west of the Rockiy Mountains spend the winter along
the California coast while those from central North America spend the winter in
roosts in the mountains of central Mexico. But what about the Monarchs from the
Atlantic seaboard? Although it seems that many of them also migrate to the same
Mexican mountain overwintering sites, others may travel to, and through,
Florida, perhaps flying on to undiscovered sites in the Caribbean and/or the
Yucatan Peninsula. On the other hand, perhaps northern Monarchs that enter the
peninsula don't survive the winter and, for them, Florida is a dead end. Some
Monarchs do seem to overwinter in Florida, but these may be largely members of
resident, non-migratory, populations. At this point, we just don't know.
Back to Top
12. Where do butterflies lay their eggs?
Most butterflies lay their eggs on plants that will be eaten by the caterpillar,
when it hatches. Some species lay their eggs on the tops of leafs, some on the
bottom, some at the leaf axils, some on flowers, and some on stalks. Which
species do which is not known in all cases. Watch butterflies carefully and you
could make a real contribution to our knowledge.
Back to Top
13. What is wrong with releasing butterflies at
weddings and other events?
This well-meaning but misguided practice spreads diseases to natural
populations, inappropriately mixes genetically distinct populations of the same
species, may disrupt migratory behavior of native butterflies, confuses
scientific studies of butterfly migrations, and usually results in the untimely
death of the butterflies released. Please see Butterflies at
Weddings for more about this subject.
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14. I bought my child a Painted Lady kit, now the
butterfly has emerged but it is still freezing outside. What should I do?
The best thing to do at this point is to keep the butterfly inside in a small
enclosure. Try feeding it from a sponge impregnated with sugar-water. But, the
important thing to remember for the future is not to buy butterflies. Releasing
commercially-raised butterflies into the environment is an act of
anti-environmental terror (see above), while keeping the wild butterfly in your
home is not a satisfying experience for most people (not to mention the
butterfly). Far better to take your child out to any natural area and search for
wild butterflies and caterpillars, which are easily found in most areas.
Back to Top
15. Do butterflies have a sense of smell?
Yes, they have chemoreceptors at the ends of their antennas and on the bottoms
of their "feet!"
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This site was last updated 08/19/07