They hold their hindwings spread out and their forewings either spread out or at a different angle than the hindwings. Recent phylogenetic analysis suggests that they share the same common ancestor as other butterfly families, and thus belong in the superfamily, Papilionoidea.Ĭompared to other butterflies, skippers have relatively large bodies in proportion to their wings. Skippers have traditionally been placed in their own superfamily Hesperioidea because of their morphological similarity. When at rest, they hold their wings either spread out to the side horizontally or over their body vertically. Their wings do not have a frenulum, a specialized structure in most moths that hold the forewings in contact with the hindwings.īutterflies tend to be larger and have more colorful wings than moths. Recently, lepidopterists have abandoned suborders and all other taxonomic ranks between orders and superfamilies.īutterflies have swellings (clubs) at the ends of their antennae. Two of those superfamilies are butterflies, the remaining superfamilies are moths.

The suborder Glossata contained 44 superfamilies. The order Lepidoptera was historically divided into four suborders.The suborders Aglossata, Heterobathmiina, and Zeugloptera were all moths.

There are at leat 157 butterfly species in Minnesota, including occasional strays.ĭifferentiating between butterflies and moths is complicated because on the tree of evolution (phylogenetically) butterflies are moths. According The Lepidopterist’s Society, there are about 18,500 butterfly species worldwide, about 775 species in North America. Only about 7% of Lepidoptera species are butterflies. There are at least 1,204 Lepidoptera species found in Minnesota. There are about 174,250 known species in 126 families worldwide, 12,423 species in 82 families in North America north of Mexico. The order includes butterflies, skippers, and moths. All images are protected by copyright law and cannot be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the artist.Lepidoptera is the order of insects that is characterized by having four large wings mouthparts adapting for sucking, the proboscis in the form of a long coiled tube and wings and body completely or mostly covered by scales. **The watermark stamp will not appear on any purchased items. I am very concerned with our environment and have decided to donate any money I make from any sales of this image to the ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND.because the Earth needs a good lawyer! We all need to speak up and support efforts to protect our environment. I really appreciate you taking time to look at my artwork. and you will enjoy the pleasure of their company! If you are lucky enough to have room to let an area of your space be filled with wildflowers, you will be helping many small creatures to remain on this Earth. I am not sure if my neighbors appreciate my willingness to allow thistle to grow among my wildflowers for just this reason! They are also referred to as the Cosmopolitan because it is the most widely distributed butterfly in the world. The Painted Lady is also known as the Thistle Butterfly because of the caterpillars' food preference. Occasionally, population explosions in Mexico will cause massive northward migrations. This is the dorsal view of a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) I was actually surprised to read on the Web site Butterflies & Moths of North America (BAMONA) that this butterfly is found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica! Painted Ladies migrate from the deserts of northern Mexico and temporarily colonizes the United States and Canada south of the Arctic. I tend to focus on the Painted Ladies since they are a bit more unusual in my yard. On this day, there were ten to twelve Monarchs, several Cabbage Whites, a Sulphur and many skippers keeping company with this beautiful Painted Lady. I keep hoping one will decide to land on me, but so far, that remains a hope!

They circle my head and fly close enough I can feel the wind of their wings flapping.

I go out into my backyard and have butterflies in every part of my garden. October is an especially magical month for these beauties. The days are cool, but as the sun rises and the bright sunshine warms the earth, the crisp blue sky becomes filled with fluttering butterflies. I love late summer and early Autumn in Ohio.

Bamona zebra swallowtail