Lepidoptera

Common name:

Butterflies and moths

Distribution:

Every continent except Antarctica

Habitat:

Diverse habitats including tropical (rain) forests, wetlands, grasslands, mountains, and deserts

Diet:

Foliage (Larvae) + floral nectar and other liquid substances (Adults)

Number of species globally

165,000

Number of species in Hong Kong :

240 (butterflies)+ >2400 (moths) = 2640

Morphology
(how to recognize them) :

-With tiny, scaly on the body and wings
-Possess two pairs of wings which are overlapped
-With multi-segmented antennae, club-shaped with a long shaft and a bulb at the end (butterflies), feathery/ saw-edged (moths)
-Mouth parts usually form a proboscis (elephant trunk-like) for taking nectar and other liquids, which rests rolled up when not eating.

Diagram

Did you know ?

For mating, courtship display, and odors are involved. Either sex releases a scent that is detected by the mate’s antennae. Saturniid moths like Luna Moth and Atlas Moth, have mouthparts entirely non-functional, hence, cannot feed in the adult stage. In another way, they have to eat as much as they can during the larval stage (caterpillars) and ensure the nutrient intake could support them for their whole life cycle. And the short life span of some moths could be explained by the deterioration of the mouthpart.