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Lepidoptera (/ ˌ l ɛ p ɪ ˈ d ɒ p t ər ə / LEP-ih-DOP-tər-ə) or lepidopterans is an order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths.About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organisms, [1] [2] making it the second largest insect order (behind Coleoptera) with 126 families [3] and 46 superfamilies ...
They help the insect in locating the scent and can be considered to act as a kind of "olfactory radar". [6] In moths, males frequently have antennae which are more feathery than those of the females, for detecting the female pheromones at a distance. [7] Since females do not need to detect the males, they have simpler antennae. [6]
The Yponomeutoidea is the first group to have significant numbers of species whose larvae feed on herbaceous plants, as opposed to woody plants. [1] They evolved about the time that flowering plants underwent an expansive adaptive radiation in the mid- Cretaceous , and the Gelechioidea that evolved at this time also have great diversity.
Spongy moths sometimes form butterfly-style pupae, hanging on twigs or tree bark, although usually they create flimsy cocoons out of silk webbing and leaf bits, leaving the pupa exposed. The plume winged moths of the family Pterophoridae also pupates without a cocoon and the pupa resembles the chrysalis of the pierid butterfly.
The first maxillae are elongated into a tubular proboscis which is curled up at rest and expanded when needed to feed. The first and second maxillae bear palps which function as sensory organs. Some species have a reduced proboscis or maxillary palps and do not feed as adults. [16] Butterfly resting on flower at Magic Wings Conservatory
Like the different birth month flowers, birthstones, and favorite color, each type of butterfly has its own special symbolism associated with it. Butterflies come in almost all colors of the ...
The butterflies form the clade Rhopalocera, which is composed of three superfamilies: Hedyloidea (the moth butterfly family Hedylidae), the Hesperioidea (the skipper family Hesperiidae), and the Papilionoidea (the true butterfly families Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae, and Riodinidae). All of these families are monophyletic.
Asterocampa celtis, the hackberry emperor, is a North American butterfly that belongs to the brushfooted butterfly family, Nymphalidae. [2] It gets its name from the hackberry tree (Celtis occidentalis and others in the genus Celtis) upon which it lays its eggs.