Lepidoptery
Lepidoptery
is the scientific study of butterflies and moths and a lepidopterist is someone who does this.
or, archaically, an aurelian.
Lepidopterology
Field of study
Margaret Fountaine (1862–1940) was a lepidopterist during a period of transition and professionalization in natural history. Over her lifespan she collected more than 22 000 butterflies, published extensively and wrote a diary of more than a million words.
Collecting was not, and is not, illegal, as many people seem to think. You can still catch a butterfly, or pick a flower, if the owner of the land will let you. Only certain rare and declining species, such as the high brown fritillary and the swallowtail, are protected by law.
Butterflies don't bite because they can't. Caterpillars munch on leaves and eat voraciously with their chewing mouthparts, and some of them do bite if they feel threatened. But once they become butterflies, they only have a long, curled proboscis, which is like a soft drinking straw—their jaws are gone.
The Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, with a wingspan of up to 12 inches, is among the world's rarest butterflies, but next to nothing is known about it.
The Most Fascinating and Unusual Butterflies
FOREST GIANT OWL BUTTERFLY (Cailigo memnon)
BLUE CLIPPER BUTTERFLY (Parthenos sylvia)
THE GLASSWINGED BUTTERFLY (Greta oto)
THE DEAD LEAF BUTTERFLY (Kallima inachus)
ZEBRA LONGWING BUTTERFLY (Heliconius charithonia)
EMERALD SWALLOWTAIL "PEACOCK" BUTTERFLY (Papilio palinurus)
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