What is the difference between moths and butterflies?

Vaagisha SinghMay 19, 2022

Say the word “butterfly” and bright orange and black wings Monarch butterfly It may fly in your heart. On the other hand, when we say “moths”, the brain can remind us of the image of a dull brown feather pest that pierces clothes.

But is the appearance really the main difference between these two types of winged insects? What is the exact difference between a moth and a butterfly?

You can see that the difference is more than the depth of the wing.

Both moths and butterflies belong to the order Lepidoptera, but there are many physical and behavioral differences between the two insect species.

First of all, moths are much more diverse than butterflies. There are about 160,000 species of moths. According to the Smithsonian CastleFor about 11,000 butterflies.

Both types of insects have scales on their wings. However, while moths tend to have dull, brown, or beige feathers, butterflies are usually more beautifully decorated, the Smithsonian Castle says.

This color difference may be due in part to the different behaviors of the two insects. Moths are nocturnal and try to camouflage dark objects such as bark and leaves during the day.

Butterflies also camouflage in this way, but because they are diurnal, they spend the day sipping nectar from the flowers. Their brightly colored wings are often an attempt to inform predators that they contain unpleasant-tasting chemicals. Reiman Gardens, Iowa State University..

Another difference in behavior between the two is that butterflies usually fold their wings back to rest, while moths flatten their wings against their bodies. BBC Science Focus reported..

Their pupal stage (between the larval and adult stages) is also slightly different. Moths wrap their cocoons in silk. Butterflies, on the other hand, form hard, smooth, silk-free chrysalis. According to Luis Gin Turbo Tanical Garden In Henrico, Virginia.

There are many other physical differences. The antennae of butterflies are thinner at the club-shaped tips compared to the antennae of moth wings or combs.

In addition to the different colors of the butterfly wings, unlike the butterfly wings, the moth wings have a structure called a zonule, which connects the front and back wings.

These various properties usually distinguish between butterflies and moths, but there are many exceptions to these rules. Comet moth or moon moth in Madagascar (Algiers Mamitori) Sports bright yellow wings that are dotted with bright red spots and are active during the day. National History Museum In London. And the endangered Schaus swallowtail butterfly (Heraclides aristodemus ponceanus), I live in a swamp in Florida, It’s a slightly boring brown shade with some white spots, According to the University of Florida..