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August 7th, 2009

Is It Really a Butterfly? Or Is It a Moth? Find out

Butterflies » Identifying Butterflies

Polyphemus moth, Coveredinsevindust, Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

Wondering if that butterfly you see is really a butterfly? Or a moth?

We all know about moths and butterflies, but do you know how to tell them apart??

Identify

If it's really a butterfly, you should be able to answer "yes" to the following. If not, then it's a moth.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, Cyndy Sims Parr, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

  1. Did you see the butterfly during the day?
  2. Was the butterfly very colorful?
  3. Did the butterfly rest with its wings up?
  4. Was its abdomen thin and smooth?
  5. Was its antenna knobby at the ends, as in these photos?

Also, the wing scales of moths are larger than butterfly wing scales -- but that's hard to observe!

Some Exceptions

Chrysiridia Madagascarensis, Cody Hough, Wikimedia, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
Sunset Moth

  • The common cabbage patch butterfly (Pieris rapae) is plain-colored.
  • The non-native gypsy moth of North America hangs out during the day
  • Tiger moths of the family Arctiidae are very colorful.
  • The tropical moth family, Uraniidae, contains many colorful -- to the point of stunning -- moths active in daytime
  • A family of Australian and Asian moths, Castniidae, have clubbed antenna like butterflies, fly in the daytime, and brightly colored hindwings
  • The butterfly, Pseudopontia paradoxa, of African forests has a smooth antenna, no knob at the end.