Migration

Butterflies can fly very long distances. The lepidoptera (butterflies and moths insect group) only has a few species that migrate because they don't live long enough to fly away in the winter and come back in the spring like birds.

The most famous migrant is the Monarch Butterfly of America also known as the Milkweed in Britain and The Wanderer in Australia. It can fly from North America to Mexico. It also flies across the Atlantic Ocean to get from Britain to the USA. (See map of global distribution)

Some British butterflies can survive such a long journey and so these butterflies (e.g. Red Admiral and Clouded Yellow) are seen even in North Africa. It also has been known that the Monarch could fly halfway around the world if it took that journey. The Monarch is one of the most well-known butterflies all over the world even through it is mostly found in the United States.

Defence

Butterflies aren't as fragile as they may seem.

Butterflies aren't as fragile as they seem. The Monarch Butterfly is not a favourite of birds and can even outfly them. The false wing markings at the bottom of the wings can trick enemies to bite them instead of the body itself. That way the butterfly survives even if it is pecked by birds. Eye marks on the wings of a Peacock Butterfly even scare birds away.

Coloration

The wings of the butterfly are made up of lots and lots of colored scales. The colors on the wings are caused by a pigment in the scales or the structure of the scale itself that reflects light and makes color.

The pigrnents which produce the red and white colors and the blues and metallic colors are made by the reflections. Together this makes different colorful patterns on the wing. If you touch a wing of the Lepidoptera it will feel dusty because of the scales and the dust it produces.

1. There are from 15,000 to 20,000 species of butterflies
2. The largest butterfly in the world is the Queen Alexandra's bird wing of Papua New Guinea. Its wingspread is 28 centimeters. (see photograph)
3. The smallest butterfly in the world is the pygrny blue of North America. It has a wingspread of 1 centimeter.
4. The word butterfly comes from the old English words, butterfleoge meaning butter and flying creature. (See article on the origins of butterfly-related words in several languages.)
5. Butterflies and moths make the insect group called Lepidoptera.
6. The word lepidoptera comes from two Greek words lepis meaning scale and pteron meaning wing.
7. Butterflies do not harm plants and sometimes even do well by drinking nectar of a flower and dropping it off in the next field.

The four charactoristics which separate butterflies from moths are:

1. Most butterflies fly during the day. Moths fly at night.
2. Most butterflies have knobs on their antennae. Moths don't.
3. Butterflies have slender hairless bodies. Moth's bodies are plump and furry.
4. Most butterflies rest with their wings held upright. Moths rest with their wings flat.