Someone (I forget who, sorry) asked me to explain the difference between a Moth and a Butterfly. Well, First off, taxonomically, there are a collection of families of the insect order Lepidoptera that we call moths, and a grouping that we refer to as butterflies. There is no systematic/taxonomic distinction between the 2 groups. Meaning that there is no legitimate scientific way to group together all of the things that we call butterflies in a different group (taxon) from the moths. Most species of the Lepidoptera are “moths". In general, here are the 2 characteristics that we use to distinguish between the two (somewhat colloquially)… moths: usually nocturnal, have unclubbed antennae (either thin or plumose/feather like) butterflies: usually diurnal, have thin antennae with clubs at the end.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 11:08:17 +0000
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