Types Of Butterflies

What are the different types of butterflies? Butterflies are such beautiful and purposeful creatures. It’s sad that we don’t often see them flying around anymore. This is why a lot of people are into getting to know these wonderful creatures well. Do you know that there are many different types of butterflies? There are quite a number, actually. Unfortunately, butterflies are close to being extinct these days as the greens and flowers around us decline.

The most favorite types of butterflies are the swallowtails. These are the butterflies with an elongation on their tail parts. They are very large, too. This is why many people find these types of butterflies to be very remarkable. The fun fact here is that their elongated tails are not just for show. They are part of these butterflies’ defense as they divert the attention of birds from their heads so that they cannot be pecked there. Instead, birds tend to choose the tail part which allows the butterflies to escape.

If the swallowtails are the most favorites, the sulphurs and whites are the most common types of butterflies. They are well, white and sulphur yellow in color. They are a tad smaller than the swallowtails but they are quite numerous.
The third types of butterflies would be the brush footed butterflies. The name came from their front legs being well, brush like. They don’t have the usual feet butterflies have as their front legs are just brushes of hairs which allow them to taste and smell. Among the many types of butterflies they are quite diverse as there are over 4000 different species of them around the world.

Milkweed butterflies are butterflies that eat milkweeds. It is sort of a defense for them as the milkweeds make them unsavory to their predators. Milkweed butterflies can sometimes be brush footed as well. And the well-known monarch butterflies are of the milkweed variety too. But don’t confuse them with the Queen, a variety of the milkweed butterflies that closely resembles the monarch. Among all the types of butterflies, the milkweeds are the most known types. This type has its male and females differ from each other. The male milkweeds usually come with enlarged black spots on their hind wing vein while the females don’t.

Some other common types of butterflies are the skippers. The skippers are known as such because they skip from one flower to another. This is because of their small wings. Yes, these are butterflies with wings that are of small proportion to their bodies. Skippers are quite numerous as well as there are at least 3500 species of the skipper variety.

Do you know that moths are types of butterflies? Yes, they are considered butterflies although they are very different. The wings and bodies of moths are quite furry. They come in duller colors than butterflies, too. Most moths are colored brown or black. But there is the Luna moth which comes in a nice green shade. If you have noticed, butterflies fold their wings when they rest. Moths, on the other hand, stretch out their wings when they rest.