A beautiful insect

And now for a brief digression into a lovely topic – butterflies.

I was thinking about my garden the other day, and my thoughts strayed to our butterfly bush. I don’t really know why it’s called a butterfly bush, since it doesn’t really seem to attract them! (It’s awfully pretty, though.) As I thought more about butterflies, though, I realized how little I really know about them. For example, what makes a butterfly’s wings so colorful? How far can they fly? What’s the difference between a butterfly and a moth? And why on earth are they called “butterflies,” anyway?

Butterflies are insects belonging to the order Lepidoptera. There are actually 3 subfamilies of butterflies in this order – the true butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea), the skippers (superfamily Hesperioidea) and the American moth-butterflies (superfamily Hedyloidea). There are 5 families of true butterflies in the world – the swallowtails and birdwings, the cool whites and yellows, the gossamer-wings, the metalmarks, and the brush-footed butterflies. All of these families encompass butterflies of all sizes and colors.

The reason for their beautiful and varied colors is found in the composition of their wings. Butterfly wings are covered in scales, which is the reason they are Lepidoptera (which literally means “scaly wings”). The brown and black scales are caused by pigments called melanins. However, for brighter colors such as blue, green, red and iridescence, the butterflies rely not on pigments but on the physical structure of the scales. This structure causes light to scatter when it reflects off the surface, creating a rainbow of colors. Their beautiful appearance is not primarily about ascetics, of course. Butterflies would provide a tasty snack for many hungry creatures, so many of them are also toxic if ingested. The toxic species tend to be brightly colored; of course, non-toxic butterflies don’t want to get eaten either, so they are brightly colored to pretend like they are toxic!

Of course, their appearance varies depending on which type of butterfly you are talking about. There are approximately 28,000 species of butterflies all over the world. While over 80% of them live in the tropics, a significant number are found in North America (over 700 in the US and Canada and roughly 2,000 in Mexico). The largest butterfly currently known is called the Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing butterfly, measuring in with a wingspan of almost 12 inches. Next to the world’s smallest know butterfly, the Pygmy Blue (with a ½ inch wingspan), it really looks like a giant!

Butterflies can fly immense distances over their lifetimes. The Monarch butterfly is perhaps the most famous migratory butterfly, traveling north from Mexico upwards of 3000 miles. There are other well-known butterfly travelers, however, including the Painted Lady, which migrates between Mexico and North America, as well as Europe and northern Africa. Other migratory species include Cloudless Sulphurs, Gulf Fritillaries, Red Admirals, Common Buckeyes, Clouded Skippers, Long-tailed Skippers, Mourning Cloaks, Question Marks, and several of the Danaine butterflies. (Boy, butterflies sure have some great names, don’t they? I want to know who named the Question Mark butterfly.)

So what’s the difference between these guys and moths? I was surprised to learn that the answer is not completely clear. There are some physical differences distinguishing them, including the shape and structure of their antennae, the organization of their wings, the type of pupa that they form between the caterpillar and insect stage, wing color and body structure. There are also a few behavioral differences, too, namely in the time of day most of the species are active. However, there are many examples of some moths that exhibit traits of butterflies, and vice versa. For example, butterflies usually have antennae shaped like a club at the end, while moth antennae are unclubbed at the end - unless you’re talking about the Castniidae moths, which have butterfly-like antennae, or the Pseudopontia paradoxa butterflies, which have moth-like antennae. Butterflies pupate by forming what is called a chrysalis, while moths form a cocoon - unless you’re talking about Hawk moths and gypsy moths, which form a butterfly-like chrysalis. And most butterflies are active during the day, while moths are nocturnal - unless you’re talking about Gypsy or Sunset moths, which are active during the day. So while science has divided moths from butterflies in their taxonomy, apparently, the question of the difference between butterflies and moths is still not settled!

And as for where butterflies got their name? One possibility is that it is a permutation of “flutter by,” which is, of course, what butterflies do! Alternatively, the English word might derive from the old Anglo-Saxon tradition of naming them based on their appearance. Since the most common butterfly back then was a yellow brimstone butterfly, they called them “butterfloege,” Another possibility comes from folk lore of North American colonies, where people claimed that witches and fairies would turn into these creatures at night, fly by, and steal people’s butter. Yum.

And in case you wanted to know, here’s what butterflies are called in a few other languages. The Russian word for butterfly, “babochka,” means “little soul.” In ancient Greece, butterflies were known as “psyche,” which also means “soul.” (Modern Greek, however, refers to them as “petalouda.”) The French refer to butterflies as “papillons,” also the name of a very cute kind of little dog with enormously fluffy ears. And the Sioux Indians call butterflies “kimimi,” meaning “fluttering wings.”

I don't know about you, but just thinking about all these butterflies makes me smile. Truly they are beautiful insects. And I'm not even that big of a big fan of insects!