Difference between Butterfly and Moth
The insect order Lepidoptera includes day and night butterflies, known as moths or moths. Moths are actually just a species of nocturnal butterfly that feed on textile fibers, seeds and grains. However, many people call all moths that way.
There are 135,000 classified species of Lepidoptera, of which only 24,000 are diurnal butterflies . This means that there are around 111,000 species of moths or moths. Taxonomists often differ on how to classify and differentiate butterflies from moths.
Butterfly |
Moth |
|
|---|---|---|
| taxonomic order | Animalia, arthropoda, hexapoda, insecta, neoptera, endopterygota, lepidoptera, papilinoidea. | Animalia, arthropoda, hexapoda, insecta, neoptera, endopterygota, lepidoptera, heterocera. |
| Reproduction | Butterflies use their eyesight to choose whom to breed with. Butterflies usually spawn on the leaves of plants. From these eggs hatch larvae, called caterpillars. At some point the caterpillar takes shelter in a secluded place and begins its transformation into a chrysalis (cocoon). There it goes through an important transformation called metamorphosis. As a product of this metamorphosis, a butterfly is “born”. | On the other hand, moths choose their mate by smell. Moths have an excellent sense of smell that helps them both find a mate and feed. Through this, a male can locate a female up to 11 kilometers away. Moths go through the same metamorphic process as butterflies: egg-pupa (caterpillar)-moth. |
| Feeding | When they are caterpillars, they feed on plant matter, and can become a pest for some farmers. When they reach adulthood they feed through their proboscis (spirittrompa), that is, their “trunks”. Through them they absorb pollen and nectar from flowers. | They also feed on caterpillar-stage plants. As adults, many moths feed on accumulated human manufactures, such as grain and flour. Some only survive from the fat reserves accumulated during their larval stage. |
| Hearing | Butterflies are deaf, they cannot detect any sound. | Moths, on the other hand, have very fine hearing. |
| antennas | Butterflies typically have long, thin antennae. | On the other hand, the antennae of moths are usually large, short, and hairy (or feathered). These are much more complex than those of diurnal butterflies. |
| Break | Diurnal butterflies usually rest with their wings closed. | By contrast, moths rest with their wings open or unfolded. |
| Coloration | Butterflies are usually bright and striking colors, almost always iridescent and iridescent. | By contrast, moths are dull and dark in color. |
| habits | Diurnal, that is, they are active during the day. | They are nocturnal, that is, they are active at night. |
| Corporal temperature regulation | Butterflies use the sun to warm themselves. | Moths use their wing movements to warm themselves. |
