Lepidopterans are my favorite order of insects. These insects are the scaled insects, they have this name because their beautiful wings are composed of millions of scales. The scales on their wings make the greatest designs I have seen in nature. Overall, these insects are definitely my favorite due to their looks, abilities, and their stages throughout life. I watched a Bug Chicks video to learn more of these insects, and interestingly enough I did. The butterflies/moths mouthparts are curled up so that when they land near a flower they can extend their mouth part to suck the nectar from the stamen. These mouthparts act as a bendable straw. Some moths and butterflies do not have functional mouthparts for feeding because they serve one purpose - mating. Another thing I learned from the Bug Chicks video was that the moths have super sensitive antennae for mating. The male moth can detect 1 pheromone from a female up to 7 miles away. In addition to the video I watched, there are other cool facts about these lepidopterans. Their larva stage, the caterpillar, is the ultimate eating machine. All they do is eat so that they can live throughout their adult stage and pupa stage of life. Caterpillar's sole purpose is to feed and stock up on food and energy. Caterpillars have cool defense mechanisms too. Some eat poisonous plants so that they will later on become toxic to eat, and some caterpillars can release foul odors that say "do not eat me, I'm bad". What makes me love these insects more than their looks is what they do in the pupa stage of their lives. In metamorphosis these creatures digest their body by secreting an enzyme, all but a few cells are destroyed. Once this occurs, these remaining cells undergo mitosis and divide. However, a caterpillar is not created, but a functional butterfly or moth. The DNA for this creature the entire time resides within the cells of the caterpillar, but the gene expression is not functional gene inhibited by histone proteins. This complete transformation is awe inspiring, and it makes me love these insects more than any other.
I caught this moth species, rattlebox moth or bella moth, in Sampson Alabama. I found this moth's wings to be absolutely beautiful.
Image provided by http://majikphil.blogspot.com/2011/10/bella-moth.html
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