In general, the public tends to hate insects, or at least strongly dislike them. One exception to this is butterflies. Perhaps because of their iconic coloring or their bright, fluttery wings, people of all ages have come to love butterflies and frequently feature them on clothing, furniture, and other such things. Although moths get a bit more of a bad rep, possibly because of their usually drabber coloration, possibly because they are often nocturnal, or possibly because their bodies tend to be hairy and fat rather than long and slender, they are still high on the scale of public insect appreciation. Both butterflies and moths are classified under the order Lepidoptera, although there are many differences between them.

Quite a few differences between butterflies and moths are listed here at this site: https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/butterflymoth.html. To name a few, butterflies tend to hold their wings vertically over their backs, while moths fold them into a tent-like shape. Also having to do with wings, moths have a special organ that can latch their wings together, causing them to move simultaneously, while butterflies lack this organ. If you can get up close to one of these insects, a butterfly’s antenna will be long and clubbed a bit at the ends, while a moth usually has broad, fuzzy-looking appendages. Moths actually make up about 80% of the population of Lepidoptera, with butterflies being the remaining 20ish%.

The wings of both moths and butterflies are covered in small scales. When you were young, maybe your parents or your elementary school teacher told you never to touch the wings of a butterfly, or else the scales would fall off. And perhaps in an effort to not touch the scales, you caught the butterfly in a jar, and then watched brokenheartedly as the insect beat its wings against the glass, causing all of the scales to fall off anyways. This left the butterfly with transparent patches in its wings, leaving only the veins to be seen through a shimmery glow. These scales that coat the wings are actually modified hairs that can reflect light to make the huge variation in color that we often see among these insects.

Above is a fascinating image of scale patterns on different butterflies. Going down the left side, seven different species of butterflies are shown. On the left, seven variations of the same species look strikingly similar to the species next to it. The insect on the right has developed a gene that lets it copy the wing pattern of whatever species of butterfly it lives in close proximity with. This is to avoid predators that may know not to eat the original species because of toxicity.

There is a lesser known superfamily in the order Lepidoptera– Hesperioidea. The common name of these insects are skippers, and they appear small and stocky in comparison to the slender grace of butterflies. They are hairy and often dull in color, brown or orange or gray. The way they fold their wings is very interesting, with one pair folding horizontally out to their sides and one pair held up like other butterflies. A skipper is pictured below for reference.

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/moth-versus-butterfly1.htm

All butterflies are important in the pollination of many major crops, and play an important role in the food chain for animals such as birds and frogs. They use their modified maxilla (proboscis) to dip into the centers of flowers to suck out the nectar.