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Common names:  butterflies, skippers, and moths

Metamorphosis: holometablous

Mouthparts: siphoning as adults, chewing as larvae

Key Characteristics: Lepidoptera usually have four well-developed wings covered with overlapping scales. Mouthparts of the adults are formed for sucking. Immature stages (larvae) are worm-like. Some are known as caterpillars, cutworms or hornworms; and their mouthparts are formed for chewing.

Biology: This is one of the best-known orders of insects and contains some of our most important pests, such as the codling moth, armyworm, clothes moth and cabbageworm. Most of the caterpillars feed on leaves of plants, while others bore in plant stems and still others are leafminers..

Name derivation: Lepidoptera = Latin for "scale" (lepido); "wings" (ptera)

AN OVERVIEW
There are perhaps 3,000 species of Lepidoptera in Texas in nearly 100 families.
Some of the more common and conspicuous families are provided below.

Class - Insecta

Order - Lepidoptera

Families

Sesiidae - clearwing moths
Tortricidae - tortricid moth or leafrollers
Megalopygidae - flannel moths
Limacodidae - slug caterpillars and saddleback caterpillars
Pyralidae - snout moths, grass moths, and others
Hesperiidae - skippers
Papilionidae - swallowtails and parnassians
Pieridae - whites, sulfurs, and orange-tips
Lycaenidae - coppers, blues, hairstreaks, harvesters, and metalmarks
Libytheidae - snout butterflies
Nymphalidae - brush-footed butterflies, fritilaries, checker-spots, crescent-spots, anglewings, mourning-cloaks, admirals, purples, helioconians, and others
Satyridae - satyrs, wood nymphs, and arctics
Danaidae - milkweed butterflies
Geometridae - measuringworms, geometers, cankerworms, and others
Lasciocampidae - tent caterpillars, lappet moths, and others
Bombycidae - silkworm moths
Saturniidae - royal moths and giant silkworm moths
Sphingidae - sphinx or hawk moths, hornworms
Notodontidae - prominents and oakworms
Lymantriidae - tussock moths, gypsy moths, and others
Arctiidae - tiger moths, footman wasps, wasp moths, and others
Noctuidae - underwings, cutworms, dagger moths, owlet moths, forester moths, and others
 

A bit more about families...
Sesiidae - clearwing moths
Clearwing moths lose most of the scales from their wings. This leaves them with clear wings and many of them can be mistaken for wasp. Some of these have caterpillars that borer into plants like the squash vine borer and the peach tree borer.

Tortricidae - tortricid moth or leafrollers
Tortricid moths have a very characteristic shape when they rest. The wings are held flat over the back and are wide at the front giving them an almost square appearance. Most of them are dull colored and blend with bark on trees. The caterpillars have few hairs and often roll leaves together to form a shelter giving them the name leafrollers

Megalopygidae - flannel moths
Caterpillars in the flannel moth family have dense hairs that they down over the body. This gives them the name flannel which they somewhat resemble. The puss caterpillar is in this group and is a serious stinging caterpillar. Puss caterpillars are often called “asps” in Texas.

Limacodidae - slug caterpillars and saddleback caterpillars
Limacodidae caterpillars may not look much like a caterpillar. Some are very elaborated ornamented with spines and bright colors. The saddleback caterpillar is one in this group and is also a stinging hazard.

Pyralidae - snout moths, grass moths, and others
Pyralids are a large group of moths that are usually smallish and dull colored. This group includes sod webworms, European corn borer, Southwestern corn borer, and several species of caterpillars that feed in stored food.

Hesperiidae - skippers
Skippers are related to butterflies and look much like them. They get their name from the erratic fly behavior. They “skip” when they fly because the front and hind wings to not work together as well as they do in most butterflies. Skippers have the end of the antennae formed into a small hook rather than a straight club like the butterflies. They are almost always day fliers and can be found around flowers with butterflies.

Papilionidae - swallowtails and parnassians
Swallowtails butterflies are some of our largest butterflies. The giant swallowtail is considered the largest butterfly in North American and the caterpillars feed on citrus. However, in areas where citrus does not occur it can use other plants like prickly-ash which also have citrus like chemicals in the leaves. A few of these are pests, for example, the caterpillar of the black swallowtail feeds on carrots, dill and parsley.

Pieridae - whites, sulfurs, and orange-tips
Pierid butterflies are usually medium sized and almost always white, yellow or orange for the primary color. The caterpillars of some species are pests like the cabbageworm or alfalfa caterpillar. These butterflies can be very common sometimes in the summer.

Lycaenidae - coppers, blues, hairstreaks, harvesters, and metalmarks
Lycaenids are small butterflies with a variety of colors including blues, oranges, and gray. These small butterflies show up around flowers frequently. The caterpillars have quite a variety of food plants and the harvesters are predators on aphids.

Libytheidae - snout butterflies
This family is a small one with primarily one species in Texas. The caterpillars feed on hackberry leaves. It is most notable because some years they are extremely abundant and they migrate by the thousands.

Nymphalidae - brush-footed butterflies, fritilaries, checker-spots, crescent-spots, anglewings, mourning-cloaks, admirals, purples, helioconians, and others
Nympahlids form a large family of very diverse butterflies. Many of them have modified wings that are angular is shape like the red admiral or question mark. Caterpillars are diverse too with some that are spiny and blend in with the trees that they feed on.

Satyridae - satyrs, wood nymphs, and arctics
Satyrids are medium to small butterflies in size. They are primarily brown and most of them have eye spots on the wings. They are usually found in deep woods.

Danaidae - milkweed butterflies
The monarch is the best known danaid butterfly. They are typically brightly colored to advertise that they taste bad. The caterpillars feed on milkweed and accumulate chemicals from the plant which gives them the bad flavor.

Geometridae - measuringworms, geometers, cankerworms, and others
Geometrid caterpillars are easily recognized as inchworms. Inchworms are often cryptically colored to blend with the plants that they feed on. The only other group of Lepidoptera that move with the “inchworm” motion is a few of the Noctuid caterpillars that are called loopers.

Lasciocampidae - tent caterpillars, lappet moths, and others
Tent caterpillars are pests of forest trees in the early spring. The eastern tent caterpillar forms tents on apples, peaches, plums and cherries very early in the spring. Other members of this family do not even form tents.

Bombycidae - silkworm moths
The silkworm that is used to produce the silk we use is in this family. Silk production requires a steady supply of mulberry leaves for the silkworm caterpillars to feed upon. Silk production was developed in the Orient and that area remains the center for silk production. Handling of the silk thread requires expertise and labor which has not made it profitable in the US..

Saturniidae - royal moths and giant silkworm moths
Saturnid moths are our largest moths and many of them are well know. The luna moth, cecropia, polyphemus and promethea are all in this family. The caterpillars are corresponding large like the hickory horned devil.

Sphingidae - sphinx or hawk moths, hornworms
Sphingid moths have robust bodies with streamlined wings. The long narrow wings allow them to fly fast. They are large and can easily be mistaken for a hummingbird in flight. A few even lose their wing scales and look like large bumble bees. The caterpillars are called hornworms and include the tomato hornworm which is a common garden pest. Another hornworm is the catalpa worm which is a favorite fish bait.

Notodontidae - prominents and oakworms
Notodontid caterpillars often feed in groups. The caterpillars usually have few short hairs but they may have fleshy protuberances on their bodies. They are often pests of forest trees like the walnut caterpillar and the oakworms.

Lymantriidae - tussock moths, gypsy moths, and others
Lymantriid moths are typically broad winged and dull colored. The caterpillars have tufts of hairs or long sparse hairs all over the body. Some caterpillars have a variety of colors. Most of these feed on forest trees and some are pests of these.

Arctiidae - tiger moths, footman wasps, wasp moths, and others
Tiger moths are often brightly colored. They hold their wings over the back when at rest but the hind wings may be brightly colored too. Caterpillars are often brightly colored and hairy. Almost any caterpillar that would be called a “woolly-bear” falls into this family.

Noctuidae - underwings, cutworms, dagger moths, owlet moths, forester moths, and others
Noctuidae is the largest family of Lepidoptera. Consequently, there are may shapes and sizes. The typical noctuid is medium sized and dull colored. Often the moths are called “millers” when they are attracted to lights at night. Caterpillars have few hairs but may be striped or banded. Many of our most common caterpillar pests are in this group like bollworms, armyworms, cutworms, and loopers. The largest noctuid that we see is called the “black witch” as a moth. A few like the forester moths are brightly colored and this group has adults that are day fliers.
 

RECOGNIZING GROUPS OF LEPIDOPTERA
* Butterflies have a club or enlarged area on the end of the antennae. Moths have straight or feathery antennae.

* Butterflies are more likely to fly during the day than moths. However, there are some moths that fly during the day. Moreover, an occasional butterfly and some in the tropics fly at night.

* Butterflies are more likely to hold their wings together over their back than moths. However, some moths do that too like the giant silk moths and many of the geometrids (inchworms).

* Many Lepidoptera can easily be recognized to family. However, some Lepidoptera are difficult to identify to family especially the small ones. Family recognition usually relies on the wing venation which is difficult to see. Sometimes scientists need to remove the wing scales or X-ray the wings to get a good look at the wing veins.

* Species identification for some “leps” relies on the genitalia. It is tedious to relax a specimen, dissect out the genitalia, clear it chemically and mount it on a microscope slide. Nevertheless, that is what is needed to identify some species.

* If you want to identify Lepidoptera to species try to concentrate on the large specimens. Most of them are better known and just easier to see than the small ones.

* Many of the smaller moths are not well known and there may only be a specialist or two that work on those families. The really tiny Lepidoptera are often lumped into a general category called Microlepidoptera or Microleps, for short.

* Lepidoptera use to be divided into Butterflies and Moths. Recent studies suggest that butterflies evolved from moths. Consequently, butterflies are now considered a group right in the middle of the moths rather than a separate group.

Web Links
From the department of Entomology - TAMU
http://insects.tamu.edu/new/links/buttermot.html

Butterflies of North America
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm

Butterflies of Texas - USGS
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/chklist/states/tx.htm

Moths of North America - USGS
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/MOTHS/mothsusa.htm

Moths of Texas - USGS
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/MOTHS/chklist/states/tx.htm