What are the differences and similarities between butterflies and moths?
Butterflies and moths are related insects from the taxonomic group, called Lepidoptera. The word Lepidoptera means scaly (lepido) winged (ptera). Both butterflies and moths have wings covered with scales. Butterfly antennas are shaped like a golf club, with a long shaft that has a “club” at the end. Most moths have antennas with either a simple filament, tapering to a point at their ends, or have many cross filaments, looking somewhat like a radar antenna or a feather duster. Many butterflies are very colorful and almost all butterflies are active exclusively during the day. Most moths have fairly drab colors and are active at night. But there are some butterflies that are dull and some moths that are brightly colored and fly during the daytime. How many kinds of butterflies are there? There are approximately 20,000 species of butterflies in the world. About 725 species occur in North American north of Mexico, with about 575 of these occurring regularly in the continental United States
