Butterflies are undoubtedly some of the most beautiful creatures in nature. In many countries, butterflies are considered symbols of romantic relationships.
Biologically, butterflies are one of the most common insect species. They can be found almost everywhere, except for the harsh Antarctica. Two species of butterflies are found even in Greenland. These creatures are familiar to everyone, but it is always useful to learn something new, even about a well-known subject.
1. A lepidopterist is not a doctor of some rare specialization, but a scientist who studies butterflies. The corresponding section of entomology is called lepidopterology. The name is derived from the ancient Greek words "scales" and "wing" - according to the biological classification, butterflies are lepidoptera.
2. Butterflies are one of the most diverse representatives of insects. About 160,000 species have already been described, and scientists believe that tens of thousands of species have not yet come across their eyes.
3. In England at the end of the last century found a butterfly, whose age is estimated at 185 million years.
4. Sizes of butterflies in wingspan vary over a very wide range - from 3.2 mm to 28 cm.
5. Most butterflies feed on the nectar of flowers. There are species that eat pollen, juices, including rotten fruits, and other rotting products. There are several species that do not feed at all - for a short life, such butterflies have enough nutrition accumulated during their time as a caterpillar. In Asia, there are butterflies that feed on animal blood.
6. Pollination of flowering plants is the main benefit that butterflies bring. But there are pests among them, and, as a rule, these are the species with the brightest color.
7. Despite the very complex structure of the eye (up to 27,000 components), butterflies are myopic, poorly distinguish colors and immobile objects.
8. The actual wings of the butterflies are transparent. The scales attached to them have been painted to improve the flight characteristics of Lepidoptera.
9. Butterflies do not have hearing organs, however, they well catch surface and air vibrations with the help of antennae located on the head. Butterflies can smell smells with their antennae.
10. The procedure for mating butterflies includes flying dances and other forms of courtship. Females attract males with pheromones. The males smell the scent of a female Imperial Moth several kilometers away. Mating itself can take several hours.
11. Butterflies lay a lot of eggs, but only a few of them survive. If everyone survived, there would be no room on Earth for other creatures. The offspring of one cabbage tree would triple the weight of all people.
12. In mid-latitudes, up to three life cycles of butterflies pass per year. In tropical climates, up to 10 generations appear per year.
13. Butterflies do not have a skeleton in our usual sense. The role of support is performed by the rigid outer shell of the body. At the same time, this exoskeleton prevents the butterfly from losing moisture.
14. About 250 species of butterflies are migratory. Their migration route can be thousands of kilometers long. At the same time, in some species, the offspring bred in places of migration independently travels to the places of permanent residence, from where their parents flew away. The mechanism of transmission of "traffic information" to scientists is still unknown.
15. It is widely known that butterflies mimic in order to escape predators. To do this, they use color (the notorious "eyes" on the wings) or smell. It is less known that some butterflies have fine hairs on their bodies and wings, designed to absorb and scatter the ultrasound bats emit in search of prey. Butterflies of the Bear species are able to generate clicks that knock down the signal of the mouse "radar".
16. In Japan, a couple of paper butterflies are a must for a wedding. In China, this insect is simultaneously considered a symbol of love and family happiness, and is eaten with pleasure.
17. Back in the 19th century, butterflies became popular collectibles. There are now over 10 million butterflies in the world's largest butterfly collection at the Thomas Witt Museum in Munich. The largest collection in Russia is the collection of the Zoological Institute. The first butterflies in this collection appeared during the reign of Peter the Great (then it was the Kunstkamera), and today there are 6 million copies in the collection.
18. Famous collectors of butterflies were Baron Walter Rothschild, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, writers Mikhail Bulgakov and Vladimir Nabokov.
19. If there are collectors, there must be a market for butterflies, but sales data are scarce. It is mentioned that in 2006 a butterfly was sold at one of the American auctions for $ 28,000.
20. For one of his anniversaries, the late Korean leader Kim Il Sung received a painting composed of several million butterflies. Despite the rather romantic style of execution, the canvas was created by the military and was called "The Soldier's Selfless Faith."
