Editing Butterfly (section)

===General description===

{{further|Glossary of entomology terms|Comparison of butterflies and moths}}

Butterfly adults are characterized by their four scale-covered wings, which give the Lepidoptera their name ([[Ancient Greek]] λεπίς lepís, scale + πτερόν pterón, wing). These scales give butterfly wings their colour: they are pigmented with [[melanin]]s that give them blacks and browns, as well as [[uric acid]] derivatives and [[flavones]] that give them yellows, but many of the blues, greens, reds and [[Iridescence|iridescent colours]] are created by [[structural coloration]] produced by the micro-structures of the scales and hairs.<ref name=Formfunction/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Mason |first=C. W. |title=Structural Colors in Insects. II |year=1927 |journal=The Journal of Physical Chemistry |volume=31 |pages=321–354 |issue=3 |doi=10.1021/j150273a001}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Vukusic, P. |author2=J. R. Sambles |author3=H. Ghiradella |name-list-style=amp |date=2000 |title=Optical Classification of Microstructure in Butterfly Wing-scales |journal=Photonics Science News |volume=6 |pages=61–66}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1242/jeb.02051 |date=February 2006 |author1=Prum, R. |author2=Quinn, T. |author3=Torres, R. |title=Anatomically Diverse Butterfly Scales all Produce Structural Colours by Coherent Scattering |volume=209 |issue=Pt 4 |pages=748–65 |issn=0022-0949 |pmid=16449568 |journal=The Journal of Experimental Biology |doi-access=free |bibcode=2006JExpB.209..748P |hdl=1808/1600 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

As in all insects, the body is divided into three sections: the head, [[Thorax (insect anatomy)|thorax]], and [[Abdomen#Arthropoda|abdomen]]. The thorax is composed of three segments, each with a pair of legs. In most families of butterfly the antennae are clubbed, unlike those of [[moth]]s which may be threadlike or feathery. The long proboscis can be coiled when not in use for sipping nectar from flowers.<ref name=Gullan>{{cite book |author1=Gullan, P. J. |author2=Cranston, P. S. |title=The Insects: An Outline of Entomology |edition=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lF5hBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT790 |year=2014 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-84616-2 |pages=523–524 |access-date=8 January 2016 |archive-date=10 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610140427/https://books.google.com/books?id=lF5hBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT790 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths="180px" heights="180px">
File:Inachis io top detail MichaD crop.jpg|A zoomed in view of the wing scales on a ''[[Aglais io]]'', or peacock butterfly.
File:Arctia caja Buchstein02.jpg|Most butterflies fly by day, most moths by night: but ''[[Arctia caja]]'' is day-flying.
File:antennae ctb.png|Butterfly antennal shapes, mainly clubbed, unlike those of moths. Drawn by C. T. Bingham, 1905
</gallery>

Nearly all butterflies are [[Diurnal cycle|diurnal]], have relatively bright colours, and hold their wings vertically above their bodies when at rest, unlike the majority of moths which fly by night, are often [[crypsis|cryptically]] coloured (well camouflaged), and either hold their wings flat (touching the surface on which the moth is standing) or fold them closely over their bodies. Some day-flying moths, such as the [[hummingbird hawk-moth]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Herrera |first1=Carlos M. |title=Activity Pattern and Thermal Biology of a Day-Flying Hawkmoth (''Macroglossum stellatarum'') under Mediterranean summer conditions |journal=Ecological Entomology |volume=17 |pages=52–56 |year=1992 |issue=1 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2311.1992.tb01038.x |bibcode=1992EcoEn..17...52H |hdl=10261/44693 |s2cid=85320151 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> are exceptions to these rules.<ref name=Gullan/><ref>{{cite web |title=Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera) |url=http://www.amentsoc.org/insects/fact-files/orders/lepidoptera.html |publisher=Amateur Entomologists' Society |access-date=13 September 2015 |archive-date=28 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928023032/http://www.amentsoc.org/insects/fact-files/orders/lepidoptera.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Butterfly [[larva]]e, [[caterpillar]]s, have a hard ([[Sclerotin|sclerotised]]) head with strong mandibles used for cutting their food, most often leaves. They have cylindrical bodies, with ten segments to the abdomen, generally with short prolegs on segments 3–6 and 10; the three pairs of true legs on the thorax have five segments each.<ref name=Gullan/> Many are well camouflaged; others are aposematic with bright colours and bristly projections containing toxic chemicals obtained from their food plants. The [[pupa]] or chrysalis, unlike that of moths, is not wrapped in a cocoon.<ref name=Gullan/>

{{multiple image
 |header = [[Sexual dimorphism]] in ''[[Anthocharis cardamines]]''
 |total_width = 300

 |image1 = Anthocharis cardamines Weinsberg 20080424.jpg
 |alt1 = A mostly white butterfly with orange-tipped wings
 |caption1 = Male

 |image2 = Anthocharis cardamines female (5709794696).jpg
 |alt2 = A mostly white butterfly with smaller black tips on its wings
 |caption2 = Female
}}

Many butterflies are [[Sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]]. Most butterflies have the [[ZW sex-determination system]] where females are the heterogametic sex (ZW) and males homogametic (ZZ).<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=9292232 |date=August 1997 |last1=Traut |first1=W. |last2=Marec |first2=F. |title=Sex Chromosome Differentiation in Some Species of Lepidoptera (Insecta) |volume=5 |issue=5|pages=283–91 |issn=0967-3849 |doi=10.1023/B:CHRO.0000038758.08263.c3 |journal=Chromosome Research|s2cid=21995492 }}</ref>