Monarch Butterflies Gather:
Monarch butterfly famous because of its habit of migra¬tion; in the fall, throughout Canada and the United States east of the Rockies, monarch butterflies gather in great numbers and begin a mass migration southward along very definite routes; along these routes there are certain fixed places, always the same, where the butterflies collect and rest until the temperature lowers, when they again take off and fly on farther south where the temperature is still warmer; west of Rockies pattern is identical in that tree locations are always the same year after year, but butterflies remain throughout the winter; do not move on farther south after they are once settled; in spring, the monarchs, both east and west, fly north individually, not in mass migration.Adult butterflies often form large aggrega¬tions while sipping water at wet places. Some of the protected and aposematic species of Helicon-ius form sleeping assemblies night after night in the same spots. The monarch (Danaus plexippus) may do the same during migrations. Migratory swarms are a feature of many butterflies and day-flying moths, especially in the tropics. Pierid butterflies are especially noted for great flocks of millions of individuals, which may fly out to sea and be lost. The painted lady (Vanessa cardui) is a famous cosmopolitan mi¬grant. The monarch, however, is the only species that regularly makes a two-way migration, going southward in the fall and northward in the spring.
See Also Antennae Butterflies Clubbed:
Moths' antennae butterflies clubbed are usually threadlike, tapering to a point, or they bear many close-set branches and look feathery. Butterflies' antennae butterflies clubbed have a prominent club at or near the tip; how¬ever, in some moth families the antennae butterflies clubbed are clubbed. Finally, most moths have a bristlelike structure, called the frenulum, near the base of the hind wing. It engages a catch, the retinacu-lum, on the fore wing and joins the wings for flight coordination. Butterflies lack this, but so do some families of moths.MOTH, moth, an insect of the order Lepi-doptera, in which the wings (and some other parts of the body) are mostly clothed with scales which provide the various color patterns. The antennae butterflies clubbed are tapering, often plumose or pectinate; in con¬trast, the antennae butterflies clubbed of butterflies are clubbed apically, and the skipper (a butterfly of the fam¬ily Hesperiidae) has a hook on the club. When at rest, moths hold their wings rooflike over the abdomen, or at right angles to the body, while butterflies "sleep" with their wings held close together over the abdomen. The vast majority of moths are nocturnal, but practically all butterflies are diurnal. Most moths are attracted to light, and many of these seem to be dazed by it and "mill" around aimlessly. This is particularly true of the noctuids or cutworm moths, and has earned for them the name "millers." However, the term is applied to other moths of similar size and habits.
On The Other Hand See Butterflies #39:
Ecologically, butterflies #39 and moths are highly important because of the vast quantities of plants eaten by the larvae, the flower-visiting and pol¬linating habits of the adults, and the enormous numbers of them eaten by other animals. butterflies #39 Versus Moths. The great majority of the Lepidoptera are moths, but the day-flying, brightly colored butterflies #39 are more familiar. No single factor distinguishes moths from butterflies #39. Most moths fly by night, while butterflies #39 are diurnal; but there are many day-flying, flower-visiting moths. Most moths are relatively dull colored, but some are as brilliantly colored as any butterfly. Moths tend to rest with their wings flat, the fore wings hiding the hind wings; butter¬flies either hold their wings together vertically over their backs or spread them widely at their sides.The bodies of butterflies #39 and moths are covered with a soft, powderlike substance which comes off on one's fingers all too easily. This powder is simply microscopic scales of various shapes and sizes which determine the color pattern of these insects. Because of these scales, the name Lepidoptera, meaning scale wings, has been given to the order to which butterflies #39 and moths belong.
