The Lepidoptera (scaled-wing) are the Butterflies and Moths.
There are approximately 18,000 species of butterflies in the world and over 150,000 species of moth. In North America there are over 700 species of butterflies and over 11,000 species of moths.
Butterfly or Moth?
Many people think of butterflies as the beautiful insects flying around during the day and moths as the nocturnal drab insects. While it’s true that most of the really showy lepidopterans are butterflies, many moths are also colorful and definitely come in a variety of interesting shapes and sizes.
So how do you tell butterflies and moths apart?
Butterflies:
at rest typically fold their wings upright,
typically have long thin antennae with a club at the end,
Moths:
at rest fold their wings to the sides.
typically have feathery antennae and no club
Learn about our research on Lepidopterans
Noctuid moths
Eryngium Stem Borer
Papaipema phylogenetics
Insect surveys for the Tollway