Interesting Facts about Butterflies
Many butterflies can taste with their feet to find out whether the leaf they sit on is good to lay eggs on to be their caterpillars’ food or not.
There are more types of insects in one tropical rain forest tree than there are in the entire state of Vermont.
In 1958 Entomologist W.G. Bruce published a list of Arthropod references in the Bible. The most frequently named bugs from the Bible are: Locust: 24, Moth: 11, Grasshopper: 10, Scorpion: 10, Caterpillar: 9, and Bee: 4.
People eat insects – called “Entomophagy”(people eating bugs) – it has been practiced for centuries throughout Africa, Australia, Asia, the Middle East, and North, Central and South America. Why? Because many bugs are both protein-rich and good sources of vitamins, minerals and fats. Many insects can carry 50 times their own body weight. This would be like an adult person lifting two heavy cars full of people.
There are over a million described species of insects. Some people estimate there are actually between 15 and 30 million species.
Most insects are beneficial to people because they eat other insects, pollinate crops, are food for other animals, make products we use (like honey and silk) or have medical uses.
Butterflies and insects have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies, called the exoskeleton. This protects the insect and keeps water inside their bodies so they don’t dry out.
Some moths never eat anything as adults because they don’t have mouths. They must live on the energy they stored as caterpillars.
