What is the difference between moths and butterflies

Butterflies have always been placed as a group within the Macrolepidoptera. However, it now appears that the concept of the Macrolepidoptera as currently defined i. Instead, the evidence suggests that Pyraloids Pyralids and Crambids , normally considered micros, are more closely related to the main macro-moths families e.

Noctuids, Geometrids, hawk-moths etc. At this point the picture becomes very unclear. If you really want to get into the detail, have a look at this research paper.

No doubt there will be further discoveries and some of this new research may be turned on its head. However, it seems unlikely that butterflies are closely related to the true macro-moth groups, but instead have their ancestors among the micros. The Percentage of moths in the ecosystem is much more than butterflies. Moths occupy percent of total Lepidoptera order. Both moths and butterflies undergo complete metamorphosis; this is the reason they are known as holometabolous.

Their flying capability does not depend on powder present on their scales. The largest known butterflies in the world are the birdwings and the smallest known butterflies are the blues Lycaenidae , which are found in North American and Africa.

Both moths and butterflies belong to the same order i. Both butterflies and moths share common traits of having wings, an exoskeleton, a 3-parted segmented body with 3 pairs of legs, and one pair of antennae.

Butterflies Moths 1. Moths make a silky cocoon, 6. Butterflies sporting more vibrant colors 6. This is less common for moths, who need essentially pack their wings with these pigmented scales to avoid predators by remaining dull.

Some moths have even developed noise-cancelling scales that help them hide from bats. These scales effectively absorb sound waves, stopping bats from listening to the echo of sound which reaches moths.

Beyond these minuscule scales, moths and butterflies also use their wings slightly differently. Both butterflies and moths have wide wings, though they differ slightly in shape, and butterflies tend to hold their wings up to the sides when resting, whereas moths will sit with their wings horizontal. Yet, his recent studies of their flight in wind tunnels shows that butterflies create a pocket of air just before clapping their wings, which helps to power their flight. This ultrasonic hearing has served them well for millions of years, with moths making up over 90 per cent of all Lepidoptera insects today.

In , however, scientists studying moths and butterflies found that this unique hearing had evolved in moths millions of years before echolocating bats.

Now, researchers think they evolved for communication, but mostly monitor their surroundings for any potential predators. Butterflies hearing is tuned to hear humans and other diurnal mammals — allowing them to fly away when needed.

Some even use their wing veins to help them listen in. Apart from their colouring, the most obvious difference between moths and butterflies can be seen in their antennae.

Moths have antennae that look like tiny leaves, with a greater number of olfactory nerve receptors than butterflies. Moths, butterflies and skippers are all insects in the order Lepidoptera. Worldwide, there are five families of butterflies and one family of skippers, which share some specialised similarities in body form. All of these families are present in Australia.

Moths form a larger group of families worldwide. Note that there are always exceptions to each 'rule'. Many of the features discussed below are illustrated in the gallery under "related items" on the top right of this page.

Butterflies and skippers are groups of specialised moths which in general are day flying, have clubbed antennae, no frenulum, and are often brightly coloured. But there are many moths which also share these characteristics. This gallery shows a few of the features that are used to help tell the difference between moths and butterflies.