Related topics: climate change
Butterfly
hideA butterfly is an insect of the order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera, butterflies are notable for their unusual life cycle with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal stage, and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar and colourful winged adult form. Most species are day-flying so they regularly attract attention. The diverse patterns formed by their brightly coloured wings and their erratic yet graceful flight have made butterfly watching a hobby.
Butterflies comprise the true butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea), the skippers (superfamily Hesperioidea) and the moth-butterflies (superfamily Hedyloidea). Butterflies exhibit polymorphism, mimicry and aposematism. Some migrate over long distances. Some butterflies have evolved symbiotic and parasitic relationships with social insects such as ants. Butterflies are important economically as agents of pollination. In addition, a few species are pests, because they can damage domestic crops and trees in their larval stage.
Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts.
For more information about Butterfly, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with butterflies
Tree-eating bugs threaten Monarch butterfly in Mexico
Nov 21, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
The mysterious Monarch butterfly, which migrates en masse annually between Canada and Mexico, is now facing a new peril: another insect thriving in Western Mexican forests.
Search results for butterflies
Nearly 100 new species described by California Academy of Sciences in 2009
Dec 14, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
In 2009, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 94 new relatives to our family tree. The new species include 65 arthropods, 14 plants, eight fishes, five sea slugs, one coral, and one fossil ...
Probing Question: What are wildlife corridors?
Dec 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Imagine that an unknown force hacks your city into two chunks. Because of this new barrier, you can’t get from your home to your office or the grocery store. Suddenly, your access to critical resources is ...
Sucking Up To Survive
Dec 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
Shrink a human being down to the size of an insect, and you would no longer be able to sip lemonade from a straw. The forces that hold liquid together would simply be too great to overcome at that tiny scale.
Butterfly proboscis to sip cells
Nov 22, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
A butterfly's proboscis looks like a straw -- long, slender, and used for sipping -- but it works more like a paper towel, according to Konstantin Kornev of Clemson University. He hopes to borrow the tricks of this piece ...
List of search results for butterflies
