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Butterfly Facts & Links

Fun Facts about Butterflies and Painted Lady Butterflies

•  There are about 125,000 known species of butterflies and moths in the world—approximately 700 species of butterflies in North America alone!

•  Butterflies are solar-powered! They need the sun to fly.

•  Male Painted Ladies have smaller abdomens than females.

•  Favorite butterfly flowers—aster, cosmos, thistle and buttonbush

•  Favorite caterpillar plants—thistle, mallow, hollyhock, malva and sunflower

•  Butterflies are diurnal (active during the day).

•  Painted Lady Butterflies see a wider range of color and more shades of green than people do.

•  The tiny scales attached to butterfly wings give the wings their color.

•  Butterflies have taste sensors on their legs!

In the United States, the painted lady is also called “thistle butterfly” and “cosmopolitan butterfly.”
Here are some names from other countries:
Spanish - Bella Dama (beautiful lady)
French - La Belle Dame (beautiful lady)
German - Distelfalter (thistle moth)
Norwegian - Tistelsommerfugl (thistle butterfly)
Japanese - Hime-aka-tateha (little red princess)

Butterfly Links

The following sites are external web sites. Earth’s Birthday Project does not manage these sites and takes no responsibility for their contents. If you run into a problem, please contact us.

American Museum of Natural History
Visit the museum for a tour of their new Butterfly Conservatory. While you’re there, check out Frequently Asked Questions about butterflies.
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/butterflies/

Butterfly Web Site
Click on “Nature Education” for a bibliography of butterfly and moth books for children and lots of information on butterfly programs in schools around the country.
http://butterflywebsite.com

Chuck’s Butterfly Page
Beautiful photographs with interesting captions, including a page of morphos. Send students with a passion for butterflies to this site, as well as kids not quite sure they can love a bug. Easy to navigate; adult reading level.
http://www.aa6g.org/

Enchanted Learning
“Butterfly Dictionary” and information sheets including great anatomical drawings for children in grades K through 6. A fun site that kids can navigate themselves.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/

US Geological Survey Biological Resources
Photos and in-depth data about butterflies, caterpillars and a whole host of other living and non-living things.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/taxa_i.htm