Butterflies & Moths trivia
More Butterflies & Moths Trivia
Butterflies, moths, and metamorphosis.
Butterflies & Moths Mini Quiz
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Compared with a typical butterfly, which body clue more often points to a moth?
A moth's thicker coat of scales can create a furry look, while a butterfly's body often looks slimmer and smoother.
What guides first-time fall monarchs toward their Mexican wintering grounds?
Monarchs use a time-adjusted sun compass, correcting their course as the sun moves across the sky.
Which moth famously hovers at flowers in daylight like a tiny bird?
The hummingbird hawk-moth beats its wings rapidly and sips nectar while hovering, so people often mistake it for a bird.
Female Heliconius butterflies drum a leaf before laying eggs. What do sensors on their forelegs do?
Heliconius females use sensory organs on their forelegs to check whether a passionflower vine suits their young.
What creates the shining blue of a morpho butterfly's wings?
Morpho wings contain brown pigment, but grooves in their scales scatter light and return vivid blue hues.
Monarch caterpillars rely on which plants as their only food source?
Female monarchs lay eggs on milkweed, whose leaves give the caterpillars both food and defensive toxins.
Female butterflies often test leaves before laying eggs mainly to check for what?
A flower that feeds an adult may not feed its young; many caterpillars need leaves from a narrow range of host plants.
Monarch caterpillars get many of their defensive chemicals by eating which plant?
Milkweed supplies cardenolides that monarch caterpillars store, and their bold stripes warn many predators away.
Peppered moth caterpillars can match twig colors by sensing light through which body part?
Even with their eyes covered, these caterpillars changed color; light-sensitive proteins occur throughout their skin.
Which tree shelters eastern monarchs at their main Mexican winter sites?
Dense oyamel canopies act like a blanket, buffering clustered monarchs from wind and dangerous cold.