Lepidoptera Linnaeus, 1758
EOL Text
Moths and butterflies usually stay close to the food plants used by their young. However, there are so many kinds of moths, and they eat so many kinds of plants and plant parts, that different species can be found in almost all land habitats. Moth and butterfly caterpillars are usually found on or near their food. The adults are usually nearby, except for a few species that migrate to avoid harsh climates.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; polar ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: tundra ; taiga ; desert or dune ; chaparral ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest ; mountains
Wetlands: marsh ; swamp ; bog
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lepidoptera/ |
Wing scales help camouflage from sonar: moth
The scales on moth wings help camouflage them from predatory bats because their uneven shape prevents the bats' sonar from detecting them clearly.
"The moth's first defense again comes from those fuzzy scales it has all over its body. To us they just seem ungainly, a mistake. But because of their uneven shape, they give the bat only a fuzzy outline on its sonar scope." (Bodanis 1992:169)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
- Bodanis, D. 1992. The Secret Garden: Dawn to Dusk in the Astonishing Hidden World of the Garden. Simon & Schuster. 187 p.
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| Rights holder/Author | (c) 2008-2009 The Biomimicry Institute |
| Source | http://www.asknature.org/strategy/be92d2132e07f8a21d54f687a314a878 |
Collection Sites: world map showing specimen collection locations for Lepidoptera
Most moths and nearly all butterfly caterpillars eat the leaves and flowers of plants. Some moth caterpillars eat fruit, or seeds, and a few eat animal foods like beeswax or fur. A very few species of caterpillars are carnivores, eating Aphididae or other soft-bodied Insecta.
Adults mostly drink nectar or sap. They sometimes feed on mud to get minerals, or on animal dung to get protein that they need.
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lepidoptera/ |
Chemical plug prevents mating: butterfly
The mating apparatus of male butterflies prevents other males from mating with a female by producing a chemical plug.
"The mating apparatus of the male honeybee actually explodes and detaches, plugging the newly mated queen and preventing other males from mating with her. A number of insects, including butterflies, have chemical mating plugs which serve the same purpose and may even provide nutrients that the female absorbs and uses for egg production." (Forsyth 1992:32)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
- Forsyth, A. 1992. Exploring the World of Insects: The Equinox Guide to Insect Behaviour. Camden House.
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| Rights holder/Author | (c) 2008-2009 The Biomimicry Institute |
| Source | http://www.asknature.org/strategy/b7094cc74ff31c42a32fc9644da6b21f |
Adults are sometimes valuable pollinators. Caterpillars can be major herbivores, and are food for lots of other animals.
Ecosystem Impact: pollinates
Mutualist Species:
- Ants (some caterpillars give honeydew like aphids)
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lepidoptera/ |
Wing scales provide lift: butterflies
The wings of butterflies gain lift because their scales point away from the leading edge of the wing, helping air flow smoothly over the wing.
"The scales all point away from the leading edge of the wing, to help the air flow smoothly over the wings when the insect is in flight. (It has been calculated that scales provide 15 per cent more 'lift' to the butterfly and also improve its gliding performance." (Foy and Oxford Scientific Films 1982:99)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
- Foy, Sally; Oxford Scientific Films. 1982. The Grand Design: Form and Colour in Animals. Lingfield, Surrey, U.K.: BLA Publishing Limited for J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd, Aldine House, London. 238 p.
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| Rights holder/Author | (c) 2008-2009 The Biomimicry Institute |
| Source | http://www.asknature.org/strategy/a67350e26bfc9c20547a0b96caf8735e |
Some species are endangered, usually because the habitat they need or the food plant they eat is endangered.
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lepidoptera/ |
Caterpillars hide and have camouflage, or they collect poisons from the plants they eat and hold them in their bodies. Poisonous caterpillars sometimes stay together in groups, and excrete toxic chemicals on any predators that attack them. If they are attacked they thrash around and try to bite their attacker, or play dead and drop to the ground. Some moth caterpillars have "safety lines" of silk: they drop down and hang on their silk line, then crawl back up after the predator is gone. Others build "tents" or hiding places from their silk, and stay inside when they are not eating.
Adult butterflies rely on camouflage and flight to avoid predators, and some (swallowtails and monarchs especially) are poisonous to predators. Some moths have ears that let them hear the sonar calls of bats. When they hear a Chiroptera, they quickly drop to the ground to get away. One family of moths have mostly clear wings and look like wasps, they fly in the daylight and act like stinging insects to fool their predators.
Known Predators:
- Aves, especially perching birds
- Sigmodontinae (eat pupae)
- Mephitis mephitis (eat pupae)
- Anura
- Anura
- Araneae, especially crab spiders and orb-weavers (eat adults)
- Hymenoptera
- Formicidae
- mantids
- Heteroptera
- Diptera
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lepidoptera/ |