Spotlight on Butterflies

What Is a Butterfly?
What may take over your backyard or "attack" you or your dog? What offers beautiful flashes of flying colors? What can be carnivorous, cannibalistic, or both? Butterflies, of course! Butterflies are insects, belonging to the taxonomic class Insecta, but most of us view them very differently from other insects. They have been a part of human life and folklore since the beginning of civilization; the goddess Psyche of Greek mythology was half-human, half-butterfly, butterflies were used to decorate the tombs of Rome, Native Americans used them to decorate headdresses, and the British built butterfly atriums.

There are more than 15,000 species of butterfly worldwide, and about 700 of these species are native to North America. The butterflies that live in these temperate climates have a lifespan ranging from just a few weeks to several months.

The Garden Tiger moth	The Monarch butterfly

How Are Butterflies Different from Moths?
Moths are in the same taxonomic class and order as butterflies, but they are different in a number of ways. Moths are mostly nocturnal -- active at night -- while butterflies like the daytime. Most (though not necessarily all) butterflies are more brightly colored than moths. A moth's antennae are different from those of butterflies because they look like feathers, rather than a butterfly's knobbed antennae.

What Are Butterflies Like?
Usually, butterflies are thought of as beautiful, quiet creatures, but they are also capable of some rather aggressive and bizarre behavior. The smaller the butterfly, the more aggressive it is likely to be! One of the smallest and most common species, the American copper butterfly, will attack anything that invades its territory, whether it is a dog, a cat, a Frisbee, or a grasshopper. (Of course, because butterflies are so small and (to us) fragile, we don't perceive this behavior as an attack.) The Minor's swallowtail males will beat each other up, often leaving survivors without body parts. Three or four buckeyes will rise in the air and try to knock one another to earth. Read admirals are very territorial and will often "attack" children who are playing in their territory. Good thing they're all bluff and no bite!

What Are Butterflies' Physical Characteristics?
As with other insects, butterflies have three body parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), and an exoskeleton. Being insects, they also have six legs, though the front two are tiny and used only for grooming the proboscis. The proboscis is a tongue-like structure made of two parallel tubes that uncoil to suck nectar and other liquids. While most butterflies feed on flowers, sap, or grasses, some such as the ruddy daggerwing or the red admiral, love fermenting or rotten fruit. The viceroy and malachite butterflies actually eat dung, and the red spotted purple eats carrion (rotting meat).

Butterflies have two forewings and two hindwings that can work independently of each other. There are veins in the wings that provide structure and trasmit fluids, much like the veins in your body do. Their eyes, like those of other insects, are "compound," allowing them to see in many directions at once. The feet are used for tasting as well as balance, and the antennae are used for both touch and smell.

Those Beautiful Colors!
A butterfly's color comes from the tiny modified hairs, called scales, that cover its body. These scales are often only one cell each, and the name of their taxonomic order, Lepidoptera, actually means "wing scales". These colors serve many purposes, including attracting a mate, warning off predators, and providing camouflage. Color patterns also help a butterfly gather heat so that it can fly.

What Is the Life Cycle of a Butterfly?
' The butterfly's life cycle is broken down into four stages, and entomologists calls this "complex metamorphosis." An indidivual butterfly will start out as an egg, lain by the female either individually or in clusters, depending on the species. When the egg hatches, the second stage begins, and the future butterflies are now larvae. The larvae eat and grow, until they begin to secrete a protective covering that is usually suspended from a brach. We know this third stage as a butterfly's chrysalis, and this is the stage in which a larva gradually becomes a butterfly! Once the chrysalis stage is complete, the adult butterfly emerges, dries its wings, and finally is airborne!

What About the Environment?
Butterflies can be bad for the environment, but much more often they are beneficial, helping with pollination and occasionally also serving as what are called indicator species for natural resource management. An indicator species is a species that can be the first to alert human beings to an environmental problem that is being created or solved.' They work well as indicator species because they are somewhat large and colorful, they are easily counted, and they are often vulnerable to environmental disruption.

Taxonomy:
What's the Butterfly's "Real" Name?
Kingdom: Insectivora
Phylum: Arthropoda
Sub-phylum: Mandibulata
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Danaidae
Genus: various
Species: various