Butterflies

Scientists estimate that there are up to 15,000 species of butterflies and 250,000 species of moths. There are still thousands of moth and butterfly species that have not been found or described by scientists. In the United States and Canada, more than 750 species of butterflies and 11,000 species of moths have been recorded.

There is no single, specific difference between butterflies and moths, but rather several general characteristics that differentiate butterflies and moths. The following table shows some of these general differences*:

* The above are general characteristics only. There are butterflies and moths that do not meet all of their respective characteristics.

This is not easy to explain. One could say that inside the chrysalis the caterpillar changes clothes and turns into a butterfly. Actually, what happens is that the caterpillar structures are broken down chemically and the adult's new structures are formed. To be more blunt, the solids of the caterpillar completely liquify and then form the new solid structures of the butterfly.

If you mean "poisonous" like a bee or snake then the answer is no; there are no known butterflies or moths that are harmful to touch or possess the ability to inject venom. There are, however, butterflies that are poisonous to eat. Butterflies such as the Monarch and Pipevine Swallowtail actually eat poisonous plants as caterpillars and are poisonous themselves as adult butterflies. Birds learn not to eat them. Other good tasting butterflies (called mimics) come to resemble them and thus benefit from this "umbrella" of protection.

Adult butterflies on average live about two to three weeks, but some species of moths live a mere three or four days. Because of the chance of birds or other predators eating them, or a failed emergence from their cocoon or chrysalis, some butterflies may live less than a day. Many chrysalides can also fall prey to different parasites and never reach the butterfly stage.

There are several different explanations... The word "butterfleuge", which means butterfly today, has been in the English language for centuries, but because it's an "old word", nobody knows for certain who said it or when. The most plausible explanations for the word "butterfly" include:

The short answer is, absolutely! Knowledgeable people can safely handle butterflies that are medium to large in size, but being handled improperly can fatally damage any butterfly. For example, if the vein on the front wing is broken then it will cause the butterfly to be flightless evermore. Butterflies can endure the loss of wing scales and this is common "wear and tear" for any butterfly. Cocoons, a stage in the moth life cycle, are pretty tough as long as nobody squeezes them and they're handled carefully by the silk part. Don't handle a chrysalis though, the butterflies metamorphic stage, as they are much more delicate.

With few exceptions, adult butterflies don't really eat but they do drink various liquids to maintain their water balance and energy stores. It's generally the caterpillar stage that does all the eating so the butterfly stage can focus on procreation. There are, however, some carnivorous butterflies. One example is the Harvester butterfly that will lay eggs in woolly aphid masses because the resulting caterpillars will feed on them. The Harvester butterfly (in the butterfly stage) can also pierce woolly aphids and drink their fluids (much like a spider eats its prey). The Harvester butterfly is an exception, however, as most caterpillars and butterflies are strict vegetarians.