The Butterfly
(Another fellow Animal)

What is a butterfly?  Well, the meaning of a butterfly can be different for everyone.

In science a butterfly is:

  • Kingdom - Animalia
  • Phylum - Arthropoda (includes spiders, crabs, etc.)
  • Class - Insecta (where the winged, six-legged critters rule!)
  • Order - Lepidoptera (Greek lepis = scale, ptera = wing. "Leps" butterflies and moths)
  • Family -  (Further classification to distingish between Leps are made here).
  • Genius   (Individual distintions).
  • Species
Butterflies are considered "environmental indicators"  because they are very sensitive to their environment. When something is wrong in our environment they are among the first to be affected.  Theoretically serving as a warning signal.

As with all other insects, butterflies and moths prove to be an interesting and diverse group.  Mimacry and camaflouge are used to their advantage against potential preditors.
Examples:

  1. The Viceroy butterfly (a very tasty treat to birds)  mimics the coloration and shape of the poisinous and avoided Monarch butterfly. (picture here)
  2. A moth can be almost invisable to predators on a tree or leaf which has similar colorations and patterns to those of its own. (picture here)
Butterfly species number in the 10's of thousands.  The female of the species determines the sex of the offspring.

Few details are known about the behavior of these insects.  This is an open field in which many new discovers are only waiting to be made.

For a more philosophical view:

       Butterflies and moths are considered the most handsome of insects groups.  But they are not only pleasing to the eye, they also bring forth certain ideals in humans of all cultures.  Their ability to take to take wing can bring forth ideas such as freedom, joy, and excitement.  Their fluttering wings bring thoughts of things more soft, gentle, and silent than is present in the everyday lives of most people.  The short period of time they live in their adult/winged form can remind us of our own mortality.  But symbolisms related to Leps stem mainly from their ability to almost completely change their physical form in the process called metamorphosis. Native American legends symbolize the butterfly as "transformation".  They relate the complexity and stages of the butterfly's life to that of human lives.  Meanwhile keeping in mind that the ability to transform is ours to use or ignore as we choose. 1
    Life is what you make of it!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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