Is It Butterfly Or A Moth?

  Is It Butterfly Or A Moth?

Art by: Liz Climo

            Today most people are familiar with knowing that are two subgroups of the Lepidoptera order, Moths and Butterflies. However, most people are not able to distinguish the difference between moths and butterflies and can easily become confused if they have similar appearances. Following below, we will go over a number of general ID'ing strategies to help you indentify the 2 suborders from one another.

Basic I.D. based on color and body shape: While not always full proof, a general rule of thumb to ID moth against butterflies is that butterflies are usually colorful and bright in color, while moths are usually darker and more neutral colored. Most butterflies have bright colors in order to attract mates and warn predators about how toxic they may be. The colors are almost always patterned and the range of colors a butterfly can have is huge! Butterflies come in every color of the rainbow and even some after that! Moths on the other hand tend to be darker and shadier, or neutral colored. The colors can have patterns or are random and usually appear in the form of some type of camouflage. Body shape can also help you determine moths from butterflies. Butterflies have a more slender and narrow body with a mild to semi furry coating. In moths we find that most have a larger rounded body, and are usually completely covered in hair or fur like material.

Moth: (top) has a dull colored, camo patterned wing. The body is thick and appears very furry. Butterfly: (bottom) vibrant, patterned wing showing symmetry. Body is short and small, appears hairless in some areas.

Simon Cotton, chm.bris.ac.uk  (moth)

Activity Village, activityvillage.co.uk (butterfly)

Time: The time of day at which you see a moth or butterfly is also important. Butterflies are almost always diurnal (active during the day) to feed on flowers and other sweet substances while the sun is out. Moths on the other hand tend to be more nocturnal (active during the night) and crepuscular (active during twilight hours). Moths however can sometimes be spotted during the day along buildings and darker walls as they rest and wait for it to get dark again. Moths will also sometimes become active during the day in order to escape from predators or find better resting locations if the one they choose earlier was poor.

Antennae: If you ever get close enough to look at the antennae of a moth or butterfly it can also help you identify it! Moths tend to have large, fern or feather like antennae atop there head. In some moth species the antenna are clearly defined in shape, but not all moths share this easy ID'ing factor. Some species of moth have the hairs so fine and small that the antenna can appear to not have the fern like extensions and may just appear to be larger hairs of the moths face. Using an eye for close detail is key and it may help to use some sort of magnification tool incase it may bee too fine. In contrast, butterflies have longer and slender hair like antennae. Butterflies also have a rounded budge at the end of their antennae. Both species use their respective antennae to seek out food sources and to detect one another's pheromones to find mates.

      

Butterfly (top) vs Moth (bottom)

Thomas Marent/Minden Pictures (moth)

Dorling Kindersley 2007 (butterfly)

Wings: Wings are probably one of the most telling features between the two sub-families. When resting, moths' wings lay flat or are folded against their body. Butterflies usually will keep their wings up right when resting. However, slight flapping can also be observed in butterflies during feeding. Moths also have an anatomical difference that is only visible when u have a moth in hand. Moths have a hair like structure called a frenulum, which helps to tie the wings together. The hair like structure can be found under the wings between the forewing and hindwing.

Resting posture of Butterfly (bottom) vs Moth (top)

SantaBanta.com (butterfly)

John Bebbington, FRPS (moth)

Moth Frenulum

Hawaiian Tortricidae,  nature.berkley.edu

While all these factors help identify a moth from butterfly they are not always full proof. Many moths and butterflies can have traits that may fail one of the above tests or general outlines and so it is recommended that the above ID'ing factors be done as a whole. Based on a summary of the insects attributes as a whole you can be much better at distinguishing butterflies and moths. If possible, it is also recommended that the use of a good field guide to confirm your guess is good backup. Using a field guide many also give your more information about the specimen including the name of the moth or butterfly and its habits/lifecycles.

2008 HowStuffworks