Interesting Butterfly FAQs

As part of our mission, we offer interesting butterfly FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) for our visitors to the web site.

We will try to update this page monthly, if possible, and include selected questions from our visitors.

If you have a question about butterflies, please don't be afraid to ask us; please visit our About Us page and ask what ever is on your mind; we are here to help you gain a better knowledge and understanding.

Q:  How many different species of butterflies and moths are there in the world?
In general in the entire world there are over 20,000 species of butterflies BUT even more moths-more than 150,000 species!

Q:  How do you distinguish between butterflies and moths?
A typical but wrong answer would be: Usually moths are relatively drab and tend to be more active at night. WRONG! The correct answer for here in South Florida is that our large number of colorful day flying moths make it confusing. One main difference is in the antennae -moths have feathery antennae rather than smooth like a butterfly. But the majority of moths fly at night and are dull in color. Moth caterpillars tend to be voracious eaters and not as species specific as butterflies- they tend to eat many kinds of plants-(IO moths on red powderpuff and Oleander moths on Pink Mandevilla vine)

Q:  What are some of the butterfly world records?
The biggest butterfly found is in New Guinea and is called Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, measuring 11inches across-The smallest is the Western Pygmie Blue at 1/2 inch across.

Q:  How large a group of butterflies has ever been recorded?
Clouds of butterflies have been seen from satellite 250 miles across. In Ceylon , 26,000 butterflies a minute were recorded by an observer with a camera. In California , a count of 3 million Painted Ladies passed along the coast for a 3 day period .

Q:  How fast can they fly?
Skippers can fly as fast as 47 mph.

Q:  If our Florida climate is so comfortable, why do Monarchs fly North in summer?
They don't. Monarchs don't leave South Florida . They are permanent over wintering residents here unlike the migrating monarchs. The rest of the North American continent has migrating Monarchs.

We do however have Florida state wide Migrations dependent on larval food plant availability. Sulfurs, Queens , Zebra Longwings, and Buckeyes are some of the butterflies that come to the southern part of the state following the food chain of larval host patches in the fall and slowly move back up the state in Spring. Our local backyard habitats will contribute to pollen and larval food plant corridors for these statewide migrators. Winter ocean temperatures, sudden freezes, hurricanes and rainfall amounts govern much of this behavior.

Q:  Why aren't there as many butterflies as 30 years ago?
Out of every 1000 butterfly eggs laid only 3 or 4 become adults because of loss of habitat as well as predators ready to eat them at any of their 4 stages.