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Basic moth identification features. While the butterflies form a monophyletic group, the moths, comprising the rest of the Lepidoptera, do not. Many attempts have been made to group the superfamilies of the Lepidoptera into natural groups, most of which fail because one of the two groups is not monophyletic: Microlepidoptera and Macrolepidoptera, Heterocera and Rhopalocera, Jugatae and ...
Lepidoptera head illustration from G. F. Hampson's Moths of British India Vol. 1 (1892) Like all animal heads, the head of a butterfly or moth contains the feeding organs and the major sense organs. The head typically consists of two antennae, two compound eyes, two palpi, and a proboscis. [11] Lepidoptera have ocelli which may or may not be ...
Coprophagous pyralid moth species, called sloth moths, such as Bradipodicola hahneli and Cryptoses choloepi, are unusual in that they are exclusively found inhabiting the fur of sloths, mammals found in Central and South America. [18] [19] Two species of Tinea moths have been recorded as feeding on horny tissue and have been bred from the horns ...
Adults of some species also have urticating scales, and some species shed some of their urticating hairs as defense for their pupae and eggs.. The urticating setae, or spines, can cause irritation when they break off and lodge in the skin of larger animals or humans.
The adult moth is covered in long fur in colors ranging from dull orange to lemon yellow, with hairy legs and fuzzy black feet. [ citation needed ] The cocoons that these caterpillars emerge from vary in size from 1.3 to 2.0 centimeters and contain small hair pockets on the back and flattened front end, the latter covering the operculum at ...
Moths, on the other hand, often have comb-like or feathery antennae, or filamentous and unclubbed. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] This distinction is the basis for the earliest taxonomic divisions in the Lepidoptera: the Rhopalocera ("clubbed horn", the butterflies) and the Heterocera ("varied horn", the moths).
In fact, many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce, whereas the moths are obscure and do no direct harm. Conversely, various species of caterpillar are valued as sources of silk, as human or animal food, or for biological control of pest plants.
The moth is the adult phase of the silk worm's life cycle. Silk moths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (due to carrying many eggs). All adult Bombycidae moths have reduced mouthparts and do not feed.