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Lepidoptera
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Adults are sometimes valuable pollinators. Caterpillars can be major herbivores, and are food for lots of other animals.
Ecosystem Impact: pollinates
Mutualist Species:
- Ants (some caterpillars give honeydew like aphids)
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lepidoptera/ |
Wing scales provide lift: butterflies
The wings of butterflies gain lift because their scales point away from the leading edge of the wing, helping air flow smoothly over the wing.
"The scales all point away from the leading edge of the wing, to help the air flow smoothly over the wings when the insect is in flight. (It has been calculated that scales provide 15 per cent more 'lift' to the butterfly and also improve its gliding performance." (Foy and Oxford Scientific Films 1982:99)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
- Foy, Sally; Oxford Scientific Films. 1982. The Grand Design: Form and Colour in Animals. Lingfield, Surrey, U.K.: BLA Publishing Limited for J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd, Aldine House, London. 238 p.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | (c) 2008-2009 The Biomimicry Institute |
Source | http://www.asknature.org/strategy/a67350e26bfc9c20547a0b96caf8735e |
Some species of moths are major agricultural pests. Their caterpillars eat crop plants. Millions and millions of dollars are spent every year trying to protect our crops from these pests. Some get in stored food like grain, or eat wool and fur. A few caterpillars have poisonous hairs or spines that can cause a painful rash if you touch them.
Negative Impacts: crop pest; household pest
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lepidoptera/ |
Caterpillars hide and have camouflage, or they collect poisons from the plants they eat and hold them in their bodies. Poisonous caterpillars sometimes stay together in groups, and excrete toxic chemicals on any predators that attack them. If they are attacked they thrash around and try to bite their attacker, or play dead and drop to the ground. Some moth caterpillars have "safety lines" of silk: they drop down and hang on their silk line, then crawl back up after the predator is gone. Others build "tents" or hiding places from their silk, and stay inside when they are not eating.
Adult butterflies rely on camouflage and flight to avoid predators, and some (swallowtails and monarchs especially) are poisonous to predators. Some moths have ears that let them hear the sonar calls of bats. When they hear a Chiroptera, they quickly drop to the ground to get away. One family of moths have mostly clear wings and look like wasps, they fly in the daylight and act like stinging insects to fool their predators.
Known Predators:
- Aves, especially perching birds
- Sigmodontinae (eat pupae)
- Mephitis mephitis (eat pupae)
- Anura
- Anura
- Araneae, especially crab spiders and orb-weavers (eat adults)
- Hymenoptera
- Formicidae
- mantids
- Heteroptera
- Diptera
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lepidoptera/ |
Leaf tents hide caterpillars: Bornean moths
Bornean moths protect themselves from birds by creating leaf tents.
"In the rain forests of Borneo, one small moth caterpillar constructs a most ingenious device that enables it to feed out of the sight of hungry birds. It starts work on the margin of a leaf and chews a cut inwards as though it were about to remove a semicircular segment. But when it reaches the farthest extent of the curve and seems about to arch back towards the margin, it stops and returns to the edge of the leaf. It walks along it and makes another cut as if to complete the semicircle from the other direction. But just before it joins the first cut, it stops. The segment is now attached only by a small hinge. The caterpillar next spins silken threads across the hinge between the segment and the rest of the leaf. As the silk dries, it contracts. This first hoists the segment into the air and then brings it down on top of the caterpillar. Now, working from beneath, the caterpillar makes a short slit at right angles to the cut edge of the segment. It converts the segment into a tiny dome. The whole process takes a couple of hours. As a result of all this ingenious labour, the caterpillar can nibble away at the leaf surface beneath, safe from the eyes and beaks of hungry birds." (Attenborough 1995:56-58)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
- Attenborough, D. 1995. The Private Life of Plants: A Natural History of Plant Behavior. London: BBC Books. 320 p.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | (c) 2008-2009 The Biomimicry Institute |
Source | http://www.asknature.org/strategy/81c94f401cae3e1c3958c87e44b7818b |
Silk comes from the cocoons of a moth, and many people enjoy the beauty of butterflies and moths.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Lepidoptera/ |
In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Ancistrocerus oviventris stocks nest with larva of Microlepidoptera
Scent trails lead to food: European moths
Caterpillars of the European moth find new food sources via scent trails exuded from other caterpillars.
"A European moth that is a serious pest in orchards, lays its eggs in spirals glued together around the twigs of fruit trees. When they hatch, the young caterpillars, while sustaining themselves by eating the leaves immediately around them, spin a large silken shroud around the branch so big that it can accommodate them all. They spend the day within it, concealed from the sight of hungry predatory birds. But when night comes they set out in long columns to demolish more leaves.
"After they have eaten everything in their immediate neighbourhood, a single scout sets out to prospect for more. As it explores new parts of the tree, it lays down behind it a trail of scent that exudes from glands on its rear end. This enables it to find its way back to shelter before dawn. The next night, its companions inspect the trail. If it has a single track, as might happen if the caterpillar was taken in the night by some hunter, they will ignore it. But if there is a double track, indicating that the scout returned and if, furthermore, its smell indicates that the scout had a good meal, then the whole colony of several hundred will set off in procession to strip the leaves from yet another part of the fruit tree." (Attenborough 1995:58)
Learn more about this functional adaptation.
- Attenborough, D. 1995. The Private Life of Plants: A Natural History of Plant Behavior. London: BBC Books. 320 p.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | (c) 2008-2009 The Biomimicry Institute |
Source | http://www.asknature.org/strategy/801ce482166ebbc013b97f18b0d0f6c6 |
Butterflies and moths are important pollinators. However, many species of butterflies and moths have been declining, partially due to loss of migratory and nectar corridors. Over 200 species of butterflies and moths undergo some type of migration, and the loss of appropriate habitat the distance of the migration routes has led to declining populations. Attempts to reverse this trend are being made by local jurisdictions, conservation organizations, and federal agencies.
Compared to bees, butterflies and moths are often less efficient at transferring pollen between plants because frequently pollen does not stick to their bodies and they lack specialized structures for collecting pollen. Butterflies and moths probe for nectar and prefer flat clustered flowers that they can use as a landing pad.
- What are the differences between butterflies and moths?, Australian Museum
License | http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Bob Corrigan, Bob Corrigan |
Source | http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt/community/butterflies_and_moths/856 |
In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Animal / parasite
Akanthomyces anamorph of Akanthomyces aculeatus parasitises Lepidoptera
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Ammophila pubescens stocks nest with larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Ancistrocerus gazella stocks nest with larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Ancistrocerus trifasciatus stocks nest with larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / pathogen
Bacillus thuringiensis infects caterpillar of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Bethylus cephalotes stocks nest with larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / parasitoid / endoparasitoid
larva of Blondelia nigripes is endoparasitoid of larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / dung saprobe
colony of Clonostachys anamorph of Clonostachys simmonsii is saprobic in/on dung or excretions of frass of caterpillar of Lepidoptera
Animal / pathogen
Conidiobolus thromboides infects live adult of Lepidoptera
Animal / parasitoid
solitary (usually) stroma of Cordyceps gracilis is parasitoid of buried larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / parasitoid
solitary (usually) stroma of Cordyceps militaris is parasitoid of buried (usually) larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / parasitoid
gregarious stroma of Cordyceps tuberculata is parasitoid of imago of Lepidoptera
Animal / pathogen
Entomophthora aulicae infects live adult of Lepidoptera
Animal / pathogen
Erynia radicans infects live larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator
Himacerus apterus is predator of caterpillar of Lepidoptera
Plant / pollenated
adult of Lepidoptera pollenates or fertilises flower of Anacamptis pyramidalis
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Microdynerus exilis stocks nest with larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator
Nabis ferus is predator of caterpillar of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Odynerus spinipes stocks nest with larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator
nymph of Orthotylus tenellus is predator of egg of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator
adult of Pentatoma rufipes is predator of caterpillar of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator
adult of Picromerus bidens is predator of caterpillar of Lepidoptera
Other: major host/prey
Animal / predator
leaf of Pinguicula vulgaris is predator of adult of Lepidoptera
Other: minor host/prey
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Podalonia affinis stocks nest with larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Podalonia hirsuta stocks nest with larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / parasite / endoparasite
larva of Pollenia endoparasitises Lepidoptera
Other: minor host/prey
Animal / parasite / endoparasite
larva of Sarcophaga albiceps endoparasitises Lepidoptera
Animal / parasite / endoparasite
larva of Sarcophaga jacobsoni endoparasitises Lepidoptera
Other: minor host/prey
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Symmorphus bifasciatus stocks nest with larva of Lepidoptera
Animal / parasitoid / endoparasitoid
solitary larva of Trichogramma brassicae is endoparasitoid of egg of Lepidoptera
Other: sole host/prey
Animal / predator
adult of Troilus luridus is predator of adult of Lepidoptera
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | BioImages, BioImages - the Virtual Fieldguide (UK) |
Source | http://www.bioimages.org.uk/html/Lepidoptera.htm |