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The big facts page

161 butterfly and moth facts, all checked

Every fact on this site, in one place, each linked to its source. Figures that can change carry the date we checked them (30 Oct 2026). Where sources disagree we give every figure: see when sources disagree.

Jump to: Butterflies and moths in general | Butterfly or moth? | Bodies and senses | Life cycle | Defences | Migration | The species | Britain | The Isle of Man | History and words

Butterflies and moths in general

  1. 1 Butterflies, moths and skippers make up the insect order Lepidoptera, with about 180,000 species. Only beetles form a bigger order. Britannica: Lepidoptera · checked 30 Oct 2026
  2. 2 The Oxford University Museum of Natural History puts the world total at 165,000 species, with 2,495 in the UK. Oxford University Museum of Natural History: Lepidoptera · checked 30 Oct 2026
  3. 3 Lepidoptera comes from Greek and means ‘scaly wings’. Natural History Museum, London: UK moths, nine of the most colourful and distinctive
  4. 4 The name refers to the tiny, dust-like scales that cover the wings. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  5. 5 The ‘powder’ that rubs off a butterfly’s wing is actually its scales, so look but don’t touch. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  6. 6 Each wing scale is a single colour. Most colours come from pigments, but shimmering colours come from tiny structures on the scale’s surface. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  7. 7 Butterflies and moths live on every continent except Antarctica. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  8. 8 The smallest moths have wingspans of about 4 mm. The biggest moths and butterflies measure nearly 30 cm. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  9. 9 With around 180,000 described species, butterflies and moths outnumber all known mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians put together by more than two and a half times. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology) · checked 30 Oct 2026
  10. 10 Many adults are important pollinators, because they visit flowers for nectar. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  11. 11 Caterpillars turn huge amounts of plant matter into animal matter, and are food for many other animals. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  12. 12 Unlike some other insect groups, butterflies and moths do not spread plant diseases, and none of them are parasites of people. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  13. 13 The oldest known fossils of butterflies and moths are tiny wing and body scales from rocks laid down around a mass extinction 201 million years ago, found in a rock core drilled in northern Germany. They are more than 70 million years older than the oldest fossils of flowering plants. Utrecht University: World’s oldest moths also roamed Jurassic Park
  14. 14 Some of those early moths already had sucking mouthparts, probably used to sip sugary droplets from plants without flowers. Utrecht University: World’s oldest moths also roamed Jurassic Park

Butterfly or moth?

  1. 15 There is no real scientific difference between butterflies and moths; we split them out of habit. Oxford University Museum of Natural History: Lepidoptera
  2. 16 The Australian Museum describes butterflies and skippers as groups of specialised moths. Australian Museum: What are the differences between butterflies and moths?
  3. 17 Worldwide there are five families of butterflies and one of skippers, but 125 families of moths. Australian Museum: What are the differences between butterflies and moths?
  4. 18 Rule of thumb: butterflies fly by day, rest with wings held together above the back and have clubbed antennae; moths mostly fly at night, rest with wings flat and have straight or feathery antennae. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  5. 19 The most consistent difference: nearly all moths have a tiny hook joining the hindwing to the forewing. Butterflies do not. Butterfly Conservation: Moth myths
  6. 20 That wing-locking bristle is called a frenulum. Australian Museum: What are the differences between butterflies and moths?
  7. 21 Not all moths fly at night: the Cinnabar and Scarlet Tiger fly by day, and some butterflies, such as the Red Admiral, fly at night. Butterfly Conservation: Moth myths
  8. 22 Some moths have clubbed antennae too, such as the day-flying burnets. Butterfly Conservation: Moth myths
  9. 23 Moths are not all dull. Tiger moths are almost gaudy, and many dull moths have intricate camouflage patterns. Butterfly Conservation: Moth myths
  10. 24 Of about 2,500 moth species in Britain, only a very few eat clothes, and only fabrics from animals such as wool. Butterfly Conservation: Moth myths
  11. 25 Brightly coloured moths are often day-flyers, or species warning predators that they taste bad. Dull colours hide night-flying moths while they rest by day. Natural History Museum, London: UK moths, nine of the most colourful and distinctive
  12. 26 The ‘feathery’ antennae of many male moths pick up tiny amounts of scent (pheromones) released by females. Australian Museum: What are the differences between butterflies and moths?
  13. 27 Many moth caterpillars spin silk cocoons to pupate in. Many butterfly pupae are not hidden in cocoons at all. Australian Museum: What are the differences between butterflies and moths?

Bodies and senses

  1. 28 Smell is by far a butterfly’s most important sense, picked up by sensors on its antennae. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  2. 29 Butterflies have ‘taste buds’ at the end of the tongue, and females taste plants with their feet to check them before laying eggs. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  3. 30 Butterflies can see ultraviolet light, which is invisible to us. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  4. 31 Butterflies don’t sleep as we do, but many rest together in groups. This is called roosting. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  5. 32 A few butterflies use sound: the male cracker butterfly makes loud noises with its wings. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  6. 33 Most adult butterflies live only a few weeks. Migratory species may live up to 10 months. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  7. 34 Most adults feed on nectar, but sap, rotting fruit, honeydew from aphids, dung and carrion are sometimes used. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  8. 35 In a few groups the adult mouthparts don’t work at all, so the adults never eat. All their food is eaten as caterpillars. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  9. 36 More than 90% of moth caterpillars eat plants: leaves, roots, seeds and fruits. Natural History Museum, London: UK moths, nine of the most colourful and distinctive
  10. 37 Males of giant silkworm moths, with very large feathery antennae, can find females 5 to 6 km (3 to 4 miles) away. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  11. 38 Some moths can hear bats’ hunting calls, and swerve or dive to the ground to escape. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  12. 39 The greater wax moth can hear sounds close to 300,000 hertz, higher than any bat call known. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  13. 40 Some orchids with very deep flowers seem to be pollinated only by hawk-moths with very long tongues (proboscises). Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)

Life cycle

  1. 41 Every butterfly and moth goes through four stages: egg, caterpillar (larva), pupa (chrysalis) and adult. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  2. 42 Some species lay fewer than a hundred eggs, others more than a thousand, usually on or in the right food plant. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  3. 43 The caterpillar is the main, and often the only, feeding stage. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  4. 44 Most caterpillars moult (shed their skin) four or five times as they grow. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  5. 45 Most caterpillars keep spinning silk threads as they move, which gives them an almost unshakable grip. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  6. 46 Inside the pupa the caterpillar’s body is rebuilt into an adult. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  7. 47 Most butterflies don’t spin cocoons: their own body forms the chrysalis. Many hang head-down from a silk pad. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  8. 48 Others, such as swallowtails and some whites and blues, are held head-up by a silk ‘girdle’ round the middle. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  9. 49 A newly emerged adult hangs up and pumps fluid into its crumpled wings to open them. It may fly within minutes or need several hours. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  10. 50 The fastest species develop from egg to adult in about three weeks; the slowest take two or even three years. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  11. 51 The pupal stage can last only a week or 10 days in summer, or many months through winter. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  12. 52 Butterflies that hibernate as adults spend winter hanging still in hollow trees or among dead leaves. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)

Defences

  1. 53 Bright eyespots or tails on the hindwings draw a predator’s attack away from the body. Losing a bit of wing does no real harm. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  2. 54 Some butterflies and moths hide bright colours under dull wings and flash them when disturbed. The surprise gives them time to escape. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  3. 55 When disturbed, a Peacock butterfly flicks its wings open to show four big eyespots and makes a hissing sound by rubbing its wing veins together. Vallin et al. 2005, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (peer-reviewed)
  4. 56 In an experiment with blue tits, only 1 of 34 Peacocks with eyespots was killed, compared with 13 of 20 whose eyespots were painted over. Vallin et al. 2005, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (peer-reviewed)
  5. 57 Monarch caterpillars store toxins from the plants they eat. Burnet moths carry hydrogen cyanide in their blood. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  6. 58 Bold warning colours are easy for predators to remember: after trying one or two, they leave others with the same pattern alone. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  7. 59 Tiger moths that taste bad make high-pitched clicks that people can’t hear but bats can, which may warn bats off. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  8. 60 Clearwing moths look remarkably like stinging wasps, right down to the wings, body and legs. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  9. 61 Many inchworm caterpillars look just like twigs, and the buff-tip moth resembles a small twig. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  10. 62 Small caterpillars often drop when disturbed, dangling on a silk thread. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)

Migration

  1. 63 North America’s monarch makes a two-way migration, like a bird: south in autumn and back north in spring. US Forest Service: Monarch butterfly migration and overwintering
  2. 64 The US Forest Service says some monarchs fly as far as 3,000 miles to reach their winter home. US Forest Service: Monarch butterfly migration and overwintering
  3. 65 Butterfly Conservation says millions of monarchs make a 2,000-mile (3,220 km) journey each year from Canada to central Mexico. Butterfly Conservation: Monarch
  4. 66 Eastern monarchs spend the winter in oyamel fir forests in the mountains of Mexico, 2,400 to 3,600 metres up. US Forest Service: Monarch butterfly migration and overwintering
  5. 67 Tens of thousands of monarchs can cluster on a single tree to keep warm, though each weighs less than a gram. US Forest Service: Monarch butterfly migration and overwintering
  6. 68 The monarchs that fly south have never been to Mexico before, yet they find the way. US Forest Service: Monarch butterfly migration and overwintering
  7. 69 Monarchs travel 50 to 100 miles a day. The farthest a monarch has been recorded flying in one day is 265 miles. US Forest Service: Monarch butterfly migration and overwintering
  8. 70 The trip north takes several generations: the great-grandchildren of the monarchs that wintered in Mexico make the return journey. US National Park Service: Milkweed and monarchs
  9. 71 Monarchs lay eggs only on milkweed, and their caterpillars eat only milkweed leaves. US National Park Service: Milkweed and monarchs
  10. 72 Milkweed sap contains chemicals poisonous to most animals. Monarchs resist it, and it protects their caterpillars from predators. US National Park Service: Milkweed and monarchs
  11. 73 Painted Ladies make a 9,000-mile round trip between tropical Africa and the Arctic Circle, in steps by up to six generations. University of York: Painted Lady migration secrets unveiled
  12. 74 Radar showed Painted Ladies fly south at an average height of over 500 metres, reaching 30 mph on good winds, out of sight of people on the ground. University of York: Painted Lady migration secrets unveiled
  13. 75 In 2009 about 11 million Painted Ladies flew into the UK in spring, and 26 million left in autumn. University of York: Painted Lady migration secrets unveiled
  14. 76 The discovery used more than 60,000 sightings sent in by the public across Europe in 2009, including 10,000 British observers. University of York: Painted Lady migration secrets unveiled
  15. 77 A Painted Lady weighs less than a gram and has a brain the size of a pin head. University of York: Painted Lady migration secrets unveiled
  16. 78 Britannica describes Painted Lady mass flights as one-way emigrations rather than true migrations. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)
  17. 79 Radar studies show migrating butterflies and moths pick fast winds a few hundred metres up, travelling at up to 100 km (62 miles) an hour. Britannica: Lepidoptera (natural history, behaviour and ecology)

The species

  1. 80 The Peacock was voted Britain’s Favourite Butterfly. Its eyespots evolved to startle or confuse predators. Butterfly Conservation: Peacock
  2. 81 Folded up, a Peacock’s very dark undersides look like dead leaves. Its caterpillars eat Common Nettle. Butterfly Conservation: Peacock
  3. 82 Each year the Painted Lady spreads north from the desert fringes of North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia, reaching Britain and Ireland. Butterfly Conservation: Painted Lady
  4. 83 Painted Lady caterpillars prefer thistles in Britain and Ireland. Butterfly Conservation: Painted Lady
  5. 84 Red Admirals can turn up anywhere, from town centres to the tops of mountains. They migrate north each spring from North Africa and continental Europe. Butterfly Conservation: Red Admiral
  6. 85 Red Admirals now regularly spend the winter in the UK, thanks to milder conditions. Manx Wildlife Trust: Butterfly count · checked 30 Oct 2026
  7. 86 The Small Tortoiseshell is one of the first butterflies seen in spring. Butterfly Conservation: Small Tortoiseshell
  8. 87 Small Tortoiseshell numbers in UK monitoring fell by 79% between 1976 and 2019. Butterfly Conservation: Small Tortoiseshell · checked 30 Oct 2026
  9. 88 A roosting Brimstone’s angular, veined wings look like leaves. Butterfly Conservation: Brimstone
  10. 89 One theory is that the word ‘butterfly’ comes from the yellow colour of male Brimstones. Butterfly Conservation: Brimstone
  11. 90 Female Brimstones are very pale green, almost white. Caterpillars eat Buckthorn and Alder Buckthorn. Butterfly Conservation: Brimstone
  12. 91 Male Orange-tips are white with bright orange wingtips. Females have black wingtips instead. Butterfly Conservation: Orange-tip
  13. 92 The Orange-tip was voted Britain’s second-favourite butterfly. Its caterpillars like Cuckooflower and Garlic Mustard. Butterfly Conservation: Orange-tip
  14. 93 The Holly Blue appears in early spring before other blues and flies high round bushes and trees. It uses Holly in spring and Ivy in late summer. Butterfly Conservation: Holly Blue
  15. 94 Large Blue caterpillars spend most of the year inside red ants’ nests, eating ant grubs. Butterfly Conservation: Large Blue
  16. 95 The Large Blue died out in Britain in 1979. It was brought back from continental Europe in a long and highly successful conservation project. Butterfly Conservation: Large Blue
  17. 96 The Comma’s ragged wing edges hide it among dead leaves while it hibernates, and its caterpillars look like bird droppings. Butterfly Conservation: Comma
  18. 97 The Comma declined badly in the twentieth century, then made a comeback. Butterfly Conservation: Comma
  19. 98 Britain’s own Swallowtail lives only in the Norfolk Broads, and its caterpillars eat only Milk-parsley. Butterfly Conservation: Swallowtail · checked 30 Oct 2026
  20. 99 It is a large butterfly: females have a wingspan of 86–93 mm. Butterfly Conservation: Swallowtail
  21. 100 The Monarch is the largest butterfly seen in the British Isles, but it is a very rare visitor, first recorded here in 1876. Butterfly Conservation: Monarch
  22. 101 Monarchs have never been recorded breeding in Britain, because their milkweed food plants are not native here. Butterfly Conservation: Monarch
  23. 102 Male Speckled Woods perch in a small pool of sunlight and fly up to meet any intruder. They feed mainly on honeydew in the treetops. Butterfly Conservation: Speckled Wood
  24. 103 Purple Emperors live high in the treetops. Males sometimes come down to the ground to sip salts from roads or animal dung. Butterfly Conservation: Purple Emperor
  25. 104 Birdwing butterflies from New Guinea have wingspans of up to 12 inches (about 30 cm). Queen Alexandra’s birdwing has been threatened by collectors. American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  26. 105 One of the smallest butterflies, the eastern pygmy blue of the south-eastern United States, has a wingspan of about 5/8 of an inch (about 1.6 cm). American Museum of Natural History: Butterfly FAQ
  27. 106 The atlas moth of South-east Asia is one of the largest moths: females can have a 25 cm wingspan. Its wingtips look like a snake’s head. Britannica: Atlas moth
  28. 107 Adult atlas moths cannot feed: their mouthparts are tiny and useless. Britannica: Atlas moth
  29. 108 The white witch moth of the Americas is considered to have the largest wingspan of any moth, reaching 28 cm or more. Britannica: Atlas moth
  30. 109 The Elephant Hawk-moth is named after its caterpillar, which looks like an elephant’s trunk. Caterpillars grow to nearly 9 cm. Natural History Museum, London: UK moths, nine of the most colourful and distinctive
  31. 110 When threatened, its caterpillar swells the eye-marks near its head to look like a snake. Natural History Museum, London: UK moths, nine of the most colourful and distinctive
  32. 111 Elephant Hawk-moths are often found where Rosebay Willowherb grows. Butterfly Conservation: Elephant Hawk-moth
  33. 112 The Hummingbird Hawk-moth flies by day and hovers in front of flowers to sip nectar like a hummingbird. It now breeds in the UK and is considered a resident. Natural History Museum, London: UK moths, nine of the most colourful and distinctive · checked 30 Oct 2026
  34. 113 Garden Tiger caterpillars are hairy ‘woolly bears’. If disturbed, the adult flashes its orange hindwings and can produce a yellow fluid from behind its head. Butterfly Conservation: Garden Tiger
  35. 114 No two Garden Tigers are exactly alike; even the two wings of one moth can differ. Natural History Museum, London: UK moths, nine of the most colourful and distinctive
  36. 115 The Peppered Moth is famous as ‘Darwin’s moth’, one of the best-known examples of evolution by natural selection. Butterfly Conservation: Peppered Moth
  37. 116 The first black Peppered Moth was recorded in Manchester in 1848. By 1895, 98% of the city’s Peppered Moths were black, because soot had blackened the trees and black moths were better hidden from predators. Butterfly Conservation: Peppered Moth and natural selection
  38. 117 When air pollution was controlled in the twentieth century and lichens grew back on trees, the pale form became common again. Butterfly Conservation: Peppered Moth and natural selection
  39. 118 Peppered Moth numbers in Britain fell by almost two thirds between 1968 and 2002, for reasons not yet known. Butterfly Conservation: Peppered Moth and natural selection
  40. 119 The Six-spot Burnet is a day-flying moth with six red spots on each forewing, and it flies with a slow, buzzing flight in sunshine. Butterfly Conservation: Six-spot Burnet
  41. 120 The Cinnabar moth is named after a red mineral. Its yellow-and-black caterpillars feed on ragwort. Natural History Museum, London: UK moths, nine of the most colourful and distinctive
  42. 121 The Emperor Moth is the only UK member of a family of about 2,000 species. Males fly by day, smelling out females with their feathered antennae. Natural History Museum, London: UK moths, nine of the most colourful and distinctive
  43. 122 The Death’s-head Hawk-moth squeaks when alarmed by pushing air through its tongue, and sometimes enters beehives looking for honey. Butterfly Conservation: Death’s-head Hawk-moth
  44. 123 It is a big moth, with a wingspan of 80–120 mm, and a visitor from abroad: it can’t survive British winters. Butterfly Conservation: Death’s-head Hawk-moth
  45. 124 Nearly all silk comes from the domesticated silkworm, a moth caterpillar originally from China. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  46. 125 The silkworm moth has been domesticated so completely that it is no longer found in the wild. The adults cannot fly and do not eat. Britannica: Silkworm moth
  47. 126 A silkworm cocoon is one continuous strand of silk averaging about 915 metres (1,000 yards) long. Britannica: Silkworm moth

Britain

  1. 127 The UK has 60 species of butterfly: 58 that live here and two regular migrants, the Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow. Butterfly Conservation: Butterflies · checked 30 Oct 2026
  2. 128 Most fold-out guides cover the 60 species found across Britain and Ireland. Manx Wildlife Trust: identification guide to Manx butterflies · checked 30 Oct 2026
  3. 129 Five UK butterflies died out in the last 150 years: the Mazarine Blue, Large Tortoiseshell, Black-veined White, Large Copper and Large Blue. Butterfly Conservation: Butterflies · checked 30 Oct 2026
  4. 130 The Large Blue was reintroduced in 1992, and the Large Tortoiseshell was declared resident once again in 2026. Butterfly Conservation: Butterflies · checked 30 Oct 2026
  5. 131 80% of UK butterfly species have decreased in numbers, range, or both since 1976 (State of the UK’s Butterflies 2022). Butterfly Conservation: Butterflies · checked 30 Oct 2026
  6. 132 A well-planned garden can attract more than 20 species of butterfly. Butterfly Conservation: Butterflies
  7. 133 More than 15,000 volunteers record and count butterflies for Butterfly Conservation’s schemes. Butterfly Conservation: Butterflies · checked 30 Oct 2026
  8. 134 The Large Tortoiseshell is still officially ‘Regionally Extinct’ on the GB Red List until the next update. Butterfly Conservation: Large Tortoiseshell · checked 30 Oct 2026
  9. 135 In early 2026 Large Tortoiseshells were photographed in Kent, Hampshire, Sussex, Dorset, Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. More are probably crossing from the Netherlands, where numbers have grown. Butterfly Conservation news, 9 March 2026: ‘Extinct’ butterfly spotted across England · checked 30 Oct 2026
  10. 136 Large Tortoiseshells lay their eggs mainly on elm trees, and their loss has been linked to Dutch elm disease. Butterfly Conservation news, 9 March 2026: ‘Extinct’ butterfly spotted across England
  11. 137 The Large Copper was discovered at Dozen’s Bank near Spalding, Lincolnshire, in 1749 and was gone by 1851, when the fens were drained. Butterfly Conservation: Large Copper
  12. 138 Britain has over 2,500 species of moth. Since 1900, 51 have died out here. Butterfly Conservation: Moths · checked 30 Oct 2026
  13. 139 Larger moths caught in light traps across Britain fell by 33% in 50 years (1968–2017). Butterfly Conservation: The State of Britain’s Moths · checked 30 Oct 2026
  14. 140 Four times as many larger moth species decreased in numbers as increased. Butterfly Conservation: The State of Britain’s Moths · checked 30 Oct 2026

The Isle of Man

  1. 141 The Isle of Man has 19 butterfly species to look out for. Manx Wildlife Trust: Butterfly count · checked 30 Oct 2026
  2. 142 They are: Large White, Small White, Clouded Yellow, Common Blue, Green-veined White, Orange-tip, Holly Blue, Small Copper, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Dark Green Fritillary, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Grayling, Wall and Speckled Wood. Manx Wildlife Trust: Butterfly count · checked 30 Oct 2026
  3. 143 Manx Wildlife Trust asks people to look especially for four easy-to-identify species: Orange-tip, Holly Blue, Comma and Wall. Manx Wildlife Trust: Butterfly count
  4. 144 Holly Blue numbers rise and fall in a cycle over a few years, thought to be caused by a wasp whose only host is the Holly Blue. Manx Wildlife Trust: Butterfly count
  5. 145 Manx Wildlife Trust’s fold-out guide was the first to cover all 19 regularly occurring Manx butterflies. It is fully bilingual in Manx and English, with help from Culture Vannin. Manx Wildlife Trust: identification guide to Manx butterflies
  6. 146 The guide’s local details are based on over 150,000 local records. Manx Wildlife Trust: identification guide to Manx butterflies
  7. 147 The island has fewer than two dozen butterfly species but many hundreds of moth species, including the rare Scarce Crimson and Gold at the Ayres National Nature Reserve. Manx Wildlife Trust: identification guide to Manx butterflies
  8. 148 Hummingbird Hawk-moths are reported to Manx Wildlife Trust every year by people who think they have seen the little American bird. Manx Wildlife Trust: identification guide to Manx butterflies
  9. 149 On the island you may find Small Tortoiseshells hibernating inside houses, and Clouded Yellows sometimes fly in off the Irish Sea. Manx Wildlife Trust: identification guide to Manx butterflies
  10. 150 Manx Wildlife Trust reports that butterflies have declined greatly across the island; loss of green spaces and habitat has cut sightings of some species. Manx Wildlife Trust: Manx State of Nature 2024, invertebrates · checked 30 Oct 2026
  11. 151 Moths recorded on the Isle of Man include the Six-spot Burnet, Cinnabar, Emperor Moth and Peppered Moth. Butterfly Conservation: Six-spot Burnet

History and words

  1. 152 Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Frankfurt on 2 April 1647. By 13 she was rearing silkworms and recording their life cycle. Natural History Museum, London: Maria Sibylla Merian
  2. 153 In her day, many people believed insects sprang from mud and rubbish (‘spontaneous generation’). Merian was one of the first to watch and record metamorphosis closely. Natural History Museum, London: Maria Sibylla Merian
  3. 154 Her first ‘caterpillar book’ (1679) had 50 copper-plate engravings showing insect life cycles with their food plants. Natural History Museum, London: Maria Sibylla Merian
  4. 155 Sometimes flies or wasps hatched instead of a butterfly. She called these ‘false changes’, perhaps the earliest scientific record of insect parasites. Natural History Museum, London: Maria Sibylla Merian
  5. 156 In 1699, aged 52, she sailed with her daughter Dorothea to Suriname on the first-ever purely scientific expedition. Natural History Museum, London: Maria Sibylla Merian
  6. 157 Darwin saw an orchid with a very long nectar tube and predicted a moth with a tongue long enough to reach it. The moth was found decades after his death. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Darwin’s orchid
  7. 158 The orchid’s nectar spur can be up to 45 cm long. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Darwin’s orchid
  8. 159 The word ‘butterfly’ was in use before the 12th century. Merriam-Webster: butterfly
  9. 160 Butterflies have inspired art for thousands of years and appear in paintings, jewellery, textiles, coats of arms and postage stamps. Britannica: Lepidoptera
  10. 161 In the 2009 Painted Lady study, about 10,000 British members of the public helped solve where the butterflies go in autumn. University of York: Painted Lady migration secrets unveiled