BUGMAN Bug Trivia Quiz Answer
How can you tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth?
Hi! Sorry this answer took so long to get posted…. You guys were all great answering this question – we got a record number of responses! Nice job!!!
Of course, the answer to this question is a little arbitrary (that means we kind of make it up). Nature does not have categories like “butterfly” or “moth.” It doesn’t even have categories like “insect” and “human” and all the things in between. We make up categories for things based on the way they look, or the way they come about, or on some shared characteristic. It is easier to talk about interesting things if we all know what I mean when I say “insect.” So it is a useful category.
As
categories, “butterfly” and “moth” are not as useful. There aren’t a whole
lot of differences between the two, so dividing them tells us a little
about each, but not much. About six or seven people answered that butterflies
are beautiful and moths are plain and ugly. Which means this silky green
thing cannot be a horrible looking moth – must be a butterfly! Or this
one…
Well, it appears there are some absolutely stunning moths (just click
on those photos to see for yourself!)… and there are some rather drab,
plain
looking butterflies!
Some of you also suggested the time of day you are likely to see them flying. While we don’t know of any night-flying butterflies, there are plenty of day-flying moths! Though it is true that most moths are nocturnal (a word just about everybody knows), and most butterflies are diurnal (a word almost nobody knows! And we wanna know why!).
Both butterflies and moths belong to the insect Order
Lepidoptera.
The word Lepidoptera comes
from the Latin words for “scales”
and “wing.” Some of the folks who answered thought that only one or the
other had
scales or “powder” on their wings. Both do! The scales help to keep
the insect waterproof and protect their wing membranes from getting torn
on branches or hurt in other ways. The scales also allow for an amazing
and beautiful array of color variations that can help the butterfly or
moth cryptically blend in with its surroundings, attract a mate, or keep
its flight muscles nice and warm on a sunny day!
So how can you tell?
Well, there are at least two ways to tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth - usually.
Antennae – Butterflies’ antennae are slender and have little knobs on the end of them. This is the easiest way to tell the difference between the two. Moth antennae are either thin and straight, or feathered. So that’s pretty easy.
Cocoon vs. Chrysalis – Both of these describe the pupa stage of complete metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is another of the incredible adaptations of insects. While it has many advantages, including giving the animal a way to get through winter, metamorphosis is probably very difficult! And painful!!
Well, both butterflies and moths have a pupa – and a caterpillar. And it is difficult to tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth by just looking at a caterpillar. They can look almost the same. Caterpillars of butterflies or moths can be fuzzy, spiny, smooth, fat, thin, colorful, drab, or anything else you can imagine!
The difference is in the way they use their silk. They all
make it (except some that probably don’t just 
so we can never be right all the
time!). Some moth caterpillars wrap themselves up in silk before they make their pupa. That silk they wrap
themselves up in, is the cocoon! And butterflies don’t do it.
Butterflies use their silk to attach their pupa to a branch or structure. They do not wrap it up. Instead, it is often an ornamental, yet cryptic, casing called a chrysalis. Technically, moths also makes chrysalides, they just usually wrap them up in cocoons – but not always.