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29 unusual facts about Lepidoptera


Alexander Julius Reichert

Alexander Julius Reichert (25 January 1859 – 1 July 1939) was a German entomologist specialising in Lepidoptera.

Anne Chamberlain

She would accompany him on his outdoor excursions (though not always the whole way, for he was a prodigious walker), and learned much from his collections and studies of Lepidoptera, plants and birds.

Anthemis

Anthemis species are used as food plants by the camelse of some Lepidoptera species including Orthonama obstipata (The Gem) and Bucculatrix anthemidella, a leaf-miner which feeds exclusively on Anthemis tinctoria.

Aralia

Aralia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the Common Emerald (Hemithea aestivaria).

Arctostaphylos

Arctostaphylos species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora arctostaphyli (which feeds exclusively on A. uva-ursi) and Coleophora glaucella.

Avena

Avena species, including cultivated oats, are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Rustic Shoulder-knot and Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Bt brinjal

The Bt brinjal has been developed to give resistance against lepidopteron insects, in particular the Brinjal Fruit and Shoot Borer (Leucinodes orbonalis)(FSB).

Butterfly evolution

Of the 220,000 species of Lepidoptera, about 45,000 species are butterflies, which probably evolved from moths.

Cope's gray tree frog

Similar hidden bright patterns are common in various Lepidoptera, for instance moths of the genus Catocala.

Eastern red bat

Moths (Lepidoptera) form the majority of the diet, but red bats also prey heavily on beetles (Coleoptera), flies (Diptera), and other insects.

Eulithidium

The Molluscan Eucosmia may therefore be called Eulithidium to distinguish it from the group of Lepidoptera.

Forget-me-not

Forget-me-nots are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the setaceous Hebrew character.

H1 neuron

Neurons sensitive to motion during flight are not specific to flies, and have been found in numerous nondipterous insect groups including Odonata, Lepidoptera, and Hymenoptera.

Harrison Gray Dyar, Jr.

He was awarded a Master of Arts degree in biology from Columbia University in 1894, with his thesis on the classification of Lepidoptera, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1895, with his dissertation on airborne bacteria in New York City.

Josef Aloys Frölich

He is not to be confused with Franz Anton Gottfried Frölich (1805–1878), his son, also an entomologist but specialising in Lepidoptera.

Josef Emanuel Fischer von Röslerstamm

Josef Emanuel Fischer von Röslerstamm or Josef Fischer von Röslerstamm or Josef Fischer von Rösslerstamm (19 February 1787, Rumburg – 17 March 1866, Vienna) was an Austrian entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.

Josef Johann Mann

Josef Johann Mann (19 May 1804 – 20 March 1889), or Johann Josef Ritter von Mann, was a German Bohemian entomologist and a specialist in Lepidoptera.

Karl Jordan

In 1893 he began work at the Walter Rothschild's Museum at Tring, specialising in Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Siphonaptera.

Livistona

Livistona species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Batrachedra arenosella (recorded on L. subglobosa) and Paysandisia archon.

Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel

The volumes were published between 1832 and 1842, and within its pages the authors describe more than four thousand species of butterflies and moths.

Plexippus paykulli

Prey species that have been recorded as being part of the diet include Diptera, Homoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Odonata, Orthoptera and Aranea.

Prunus subg. Padus

Bird cherries are sometimes used as a food plant by Lepidoptera species including brimstone moth.

Quercus ilicifolia

This oak species is the main food plant for 29% of the rare or endangered Lepidopterans in southern New England and southeastern New York.

Rudolf van Eecke

In 1916 (Leidsch Jaarboekje 1917) he became a conservator at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie now merged with Rijksmuseum van Geologie en Mineralogie as Naturalis, where he worked on Lepidoptera.

Sven Lampa

Sven Lampa ( 17 November 1839, Skaraborg – 2 December 1914, Lidingön) was a Swedish entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.

Transcona Historical Museum

The Christopher Stephen Quelch Lepidoptera Collection contains over 8000 specimens of moths and butterflies from across the world with a focus on Manitoba.

Walter Karl Johann Roepke

Walter Karl Johann Roepke (1882, Hohensalza –1961, Wageningen ) was a German entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera and Coleoptera

William Schaus

William Schaus (January 11, 1858 New York City – June 20, 1942) was an American entomologist who became known for his major contribution to the knowledge and description of new species of the Neotropical Lepidoptera.

Zdravko Lorković

Zdravko Lorković (3 January 1900, Zagreb – 11 November 1998, Zagreb) was a Croatian entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.


Acer rubrum

Several Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) utilize the leaves as food; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on maples.

Alangium

Alangium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species in the Geometroidea-Drepanoidea assemblage including the Engrailed (Geometridae) and the subfamily Cyclidiinae (Drepanidae).

Alexander Barrett Klots

Alexander Barrett Klots (December 12, 1903, New York City – April 18, 1989, Putnam, Connecticut) was an American entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.

Amorphophallus

Amorphophallus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species including Palpifer sexnotatus and Palpifer sordida.

Amphiesmenoptera

Amphiesmenoptera is an insect superorder, established by Willi Hennig in his revision of insect taxonomy for two sister orders: Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) and Trichoptera (caddisflies).

Anacamptis pyramidalis

To ensure the fertilization, their morphology is well adapted to the proboscis of Lepidoptera, especially Euphydryas, Melanargia, Melitaea, Pieris and Zygaena species.

Athyrium

Athyrium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Small Angle Shades and Sthenopis auratus.

Ballota

Ballota species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera including Coleophora case-bearers: C. ballotella, C. lineolea (which has been recorded on B. nigra) and C. ochripennella.

Bridelia

Bridelia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Endoclita malabaricus.

Carpinus betulus

The leaves provide food for some animals, including Lepidoptera such as the case-bearer moth Coleophora anatipennella.

Chamaecyparis

Chamaecyparis species are used as food plants by the larva of some Lepidoptera species including Juniper Pug and Pine Beauty.

Chrysothamnus

Chrysothamnus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora linosyridella, Coleophora viscidiflorella (which have both been recorded on C. viscidiflorus) and Schinia walsinghami.

Clinopodium

Clinopodium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora albitarsella.

Comptonia

Comptonia peregrina is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Bucculatrix paroptila, Grey Pug, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Io moth, and several Coleophora case-bearers: C. comptoniella, C. peregrinaevorella (which feeds exclusively on Comptonia), C. persimplexella, C. pruniella and C. serratella.

Echium

Echium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora onosmella and Orange Swift.

Elaeagnus

Elaeagnus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora elaeagnisella and the gothic moths.

Eriogonum parvifolium

Specifically it is a host plant to ten different Lepidoptera species, including the El Segundo blue butterfly and Smith's blue butterfly; moreover, in the case of the El Segundo blue, it is the only host plant used by that species in all of its life stages.

Gaillardia

Gaillardia species are used as food plants by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera species, including Schinia bina (which has been recorded on G. pulchella), Schinia masoni (which feeds exclusively on G. aristata) and Schinia volupia (which feeds exclusively on G. pulchella).

George Thomas Bethune-Baker

George Thomas Bethune-Baker (20 July 1857, Birmingham - 1 December 1944, Eastbourne) was an English entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera, especially Lycaenidae.

Globularia

Globularia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora virgatella.

Hans Ferdinand Emil Julius Stichel

Hans Ferdinand Emil Julius Stichel (16 February 1862 Wronki- 2 October 1936 Berlin) was a German entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.

Harpactor angulosus

This assassin bug has been documented predating upon caterpillars of the genus Hylesia (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Hemileucinae) in Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

Hedysarum

Hedysarum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (moth and butterfly) species including Coleophora accordella.

Helichrysum

Helichrysum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the bucculaticid leaf-miners Bucculatrix gnaphaliella (which feeds exclusively on Helichrysum arenarium) and Bucculatrix helichrysella (feeds exclusively on H. italicum) and the Coleophora case-bearers C. caelebipennella, C. gnaphalii (feeds exclusively on H arenarium) and C. helichrysiella (feeds exclusively on H. italicum).

Hymenaea mexicana

Several of the petals showed insect feeding damage while one of the leaves showed distinct skeletonization, a feeding method often found in Lepidopterans like the Gracillariidae family moths.

Jean-Baptiste Eugène Bellier de la Chavignerie

Jean-Baptiste Eugène Bellier de la Chavignerie (28 January, 1844, Chartres-25 September 1888, Évreux) was a French entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.

John Hartley Durrant

John Hartley Durrant (10 January 1863 in Hitchin – 18 January 1928 in Putney) was an English entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera.

Liatris

Liatris species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the flower moths Schinia gloriosa and Schinia sanguinea, both of which feed exclusively on the genus, and Schinia tertia and Schinia trifascia.

Manihot

Manihot species are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera including Endoclita sericeus and Hypercompe hambletoni.

Mesothorax

In some groups of insects, the mesonotum is hypertrophied, such as in Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera), in which the anterior portion of the mesonotum (called the mesoscutum, or simply "scutum") forms most of the dorsal surface of the thorax.

Myrica

Myrica species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail, Emperor Moth, and Winter Moth as well as the bucculatricid leaf-miners Bucculatrix cidarella, Bucculatrix myricae (feeds exclusively on Myrica gale) and Bucculatrix paroptila and the Coleophora case-bearers C. comptoniella, C. pruniella, and C. viminetella.

Ocimum

Ocimum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Endoclita malabaricus.

Opostegidae

Opostegidae or "white eyecap moths" is a family of insects in the Lepidoptera order that is characterised by particularly large eyecaps over the compound eyes (see also Nepticulidae, Bucculatricidae, Lyonetiidae).

Ostrya

Ostrya species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata), Walnut Sphinx (Amorpha juglandis) and Coleophora ostryae.

Proleg

The prolegs of Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera evolved independently of each other.

Sapindus

Sapindus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) species including Endoclita malabaricus.

Stephanomeria

Stephanomeria species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Schinia scarletina, which feeds exclusively on the genus.

Thyrocopa nihoa

Included are numerous pellets of Lepidoptera frass, several kinds of plant parts and fragments, parts of dead insects, cast larval skins of insects, the larval cases of two species of Hyposmocoma, and representatives of terrestrial Mollusca of the families Tornatellinidae and Endodontidae.

Weigela

Weigela species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail.