butterfly
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- New Georgia Encyclopedia - Geography and Environment - Butterflies and Moths
- University of Minnesota Extension - Creating a butterfly garden
- Animal Corner - Butterflies
- Nature - Ecology and Evolution - A global phylogeny of butterflies reveals their evolutionary history, ancestral hosts and biogeographic origins
- University of Kentucky - College of Agriculture, Food and Environment - All about butterflies
butterfly, (superfamily Papilionoidea), any of numerous species of insects belonging to multiple families. Butterflies, along with the moths and the skippers, make up the insect order Lepidoptera. Butterflies are nearly worldwide in their distribution. The wings, bodies, and legs, like those of moths, are covered with dustlike scales that come off when the animal is handled. Unlike moths, butterflies are active during the day and are usually brightly coloured or strikingly patterned. Perhaps the most distinctive physical features of the butterfly are its club-tipped antennae and its habit of holding the wings vertically over the back when at rest. The ...(100 of 220 words)