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"Lepidoptera" means "Scale-wing".

These wing scales are tiny overlapping pieces of chitin on a butterfly or moth wing.

Lepidotera includes butterflies, skippers, and moths which are not scientific terms. Typically whay we call a moth has feathery or thread-like antenna and fly at night. They create a cocoon of silk around their chrysalis. Butterflies and skippers fly at day and have antenna that end in knobs. They do not create cocoons. However, this is just a rule of thumb.

Adults typically have two pairs of wings with the foewing larger than the hind wing and have a coiled proboscis for siphoning nectar. Caterpillars have chewing moth parts.


"The caterpillar does all the work but the butterfly gets all the publicity." ~Attributed to George Carlin