Butterflies of the World - Lifecycle, Ecology, Taxonomy, Conservation, Photography, Butterfly Holidays, Photo Galleries, Book Reviews and more.........
Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.
Marvellous moths !  <<PREVIOUS | NEXT>>

It is wrong to think of butterflies and moths as being different things. They are simply unscientific terms we use to differentiate between certain groups of families within the Lepidoptera. The families we classify as butterflies are the Hesperiidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Riodinidae, Lycaenidae and Nymphalidae, all of which have clubbed tips to the antennae, and most of which fly during the daytime. Moths are generally supposed to be dull in colour, have unclubbed antennae, and fly at night. There are however many moths which have clubbed antennae ( Zygaenidae, Castniidae ), a huge number which fly in sunlight ( Arctiidae, Lasiocampidae, Zygaenidae, Castniidae etc ), and many which have bright colours and patterns that would put most butterflies to shame.

These pages will hopefully inspire those who think of moths as being relatively dull and uninteresting to investigate these wonderful creatures further !

Siculodes aurorula ( Thyrididae ), Arima valley, Trinidad
 
Cosmosoma species ( Arctiidae ), Manu cloudforest, Peru

 

Xanthiris flaveolata ( Geometridae ), Manu, Peru
 
A trio of day-flying Urania leilus moths ( Uraniidae ) on a riverbank in Peru
 
More Marvellous Moths >>
 
 
Related subjects :

Moths of the Andes - a photo gallery of moths from the Andean cloud forests

 
 

Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007-2008, and must not be reproduced or published in part or in whole elsewhere in any form without written permission from Adrian Hoskins. Breach of copyright will be pursued by litigation.

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