Anyone who touches the wings of a butterfly or a moth finds that something like dust comes off on his fingers. The dust is actually made up of tiny scales. The scales grow in rows and give the wings their patterns of colors. The scales also account for the scientific name for butterflies and moths. Together they are called Lepidoptera, which means “scaly winged.”

In the United States and Canada there are probably about 700 kinds of butterflies and 7,000 to 9,000 kinds of moths.

Many butterflies and moths look very much alike. Yet it is possible to tell them apart. In general, butterflies are brighter in color than moths, although a few moths are as bright and beautiful as any butterfly. Butterflies are active during the day. Most moths are active only at night and are attracted by lights.

Butterflies and moths differ in other ways, too. Moths have thicker, more hairy bodies. Both have two pairs of wings. But a resting moth usually folds its front wings back upon its hind ones. A butterfly at rest leaves its wings full and erect. A butterfly, like a moth, has two antennae (feelers) on its head. A butterfly’s antennae have slightly enlarged tips. A moth’s antennae do not; in some moths the antennae have featherlike plumes, but the tips are never enlarged.

The colors that mark an adult may be of several types. Some scales hold pigment, or colored matter; it accounts for the blacks, browns, reds, oranges, yellows, and whites. Other scales catch the sunlight and separate it into different colors. This second effect may be caused by a thin, oily film on the scales or by a scale’s fine lines or ridges. (The green of many caterpillars is caused by their diet of plants.)

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