ON THE WING

 By Jill Dinsmore

Do you ever stop to think about how something “is” and you have always taken it for granted.  Well, that’s me.  I wasn’t sure if a moth was a butterfly or ?   So I did some research, learned a great deal, and this is what I found.  (My apologies to all who know the answer).

This question has an easy, but not entirely true, answer:

Butterflies fly during the day, are brightly colored, have clubbed antennae, and rest with their wings held up together.  Moths fly at night, are mostly dull in color, rest with their wings folded tentlike over their back, and have a frenulum, a wing-coupling mechanism that allows the forewing and hindwing to move together during flight.  But some butterflies fly at night, some moths fly during the day, some butterflies lack clubbed antennae, some moths hold their wings up like butterflies, and of course there are many dull-colored butterflies and some very colorful moths.  Butterflies and moths together make up the order of insects called the Lepidopteria (lepido=scale, pteros=wing). 

To attract butterflies, you need plants from which the adults can gather nectar and the larva (caterpillars) can feed.  Good nectar plants include butterfly bush, purple coneflower, lantana, verbena, pentas, zinnia, poterweed, firebush, plumbago, pineapple sage, cosmos, shrimp plant, Mexican sunflower, and summer phlox.  For larva include parsley, common fennel, dill, citrus, plum, tulip poplar, and milkweed.  When planting herbs such as parsley, fennel and dill, add a little extra for the caterpillars to eat.  Butterflies love the sun, so place a few flat rocks in your flowerbeds for basking.  A shallow dish filled with moist sand will provide a place for them to drink.