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Lime butterfly (Papilio demoleus) with black, white, and yellow patterned wings feeds on a cluster of small orange flowers. A butterfly hangs from its chrysalis as it emerges, with several brown chrysalises lined up on a wooden beam in a butterfly house at the Natural History Museum in London. Close-up of several tiny, spiky, newly hatched leopard lacewing caterpillars and a few round, mature eggs on a green leaf. Interactive inviting users to explore Ulysses butterfly wing details, with Start, zoom, pan, and reset controls.
Vintage illustrations of colorful moths.
citrus swallowtail butterfly coprophagy Great Mormon butterfly milkweed butterfly A blue morpho butterfly, Morpho peleides, rests with wings open on broad green leaves in dense tropical vegetation.
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Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters
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Lion (panthera leo)
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Green tree python snake (Chondropython viridis) in a rainforest.
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Videos

Moths vs. Butterflies: Can You Tell the Difference?
Both belong to the order Lepidoptera.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Behold the multitude of Amazonian arthropods including spiders, scorpions, beetles, and mantids
Among the arthropods of the Amazon Rainforest are spiders (including orb weavers...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
What can bionics researchers learn from butterflies and moths?
Bionics researchers studying silkworm moths and butterflies.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Observe a monarch butterfly coming out of its chrysalis
Time-lapse video of a monarch butterfly, filmed by Neil Bromhall.
Video: Video by Neil Bromhall; music, Musopen.org (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Monarch Butterfly Migration Explained
Learn about the monarch butterfly, including its annual migration to Mexico.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Rinus Baak/Dreamstime.com
Study the similarities between the white admiral and red-spotted purple butterflies which were once classified as separate species
Learn how looking closer at the characteristics of white admiral and red-spotted...
Video: © MinuteEarth (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

Lime butterfly (Papilio demoleus)
Butterflies have a long proboscis that allows them to suck nectar from flowers.
© Christian Musat/stock.adobe.com
Chrysalis
A butterfly emerging from its chrysalis in a butterfly house at the Natural History...
Oli Scarff/Getty Images News
Leopard lacewing eggs and larvae
Close-up of newly hatched caterpillars and mature eggs of leopard lacewing (Cethosia...
© Matee Nuserm/Dreamstime.com
citrus swallowtail butterfly
The larva of a citrus swallowtail butterfly (Papilo aegeus).
© Digital Vision/Getty Images
coprophagy
Female common blue butterflies (Polyommatus icarus) feeding on feces.
William M. Connolley
Great Mormon butterfly
Great Mormon butterfly (Papilio memnon), eastern India.
AdstockRF
milkweed butterfly
Milkweed butterflies.
Vijaybarve
Morpho
Morpho butterfly resting on a leaf in Costa Rica.
© Ondrej Prosicky/Dreamstime.com
Orange-tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines), with long proboscis for feeding.
Hermann Eisenbeiss/Photo Researchers
butterfly
Palaechrysophanus hippothoe, an iridescent butterfly.
Hermann Eisenbeiss/Photo Researchers
copper butterfly
The pea blue butterfly (Lampides boeticus) is a member of the Lycaenidae...
Laitche
Startle markings of a mature swallowtail butterfly larva (Papilio).
E.S. Ross
white admiral
White admiral butterfly (Limenitis arthemis), a common North American species.
Ken Brate/Photo Researchers
Maria Sibylla Merian: caterpillar and butterfly
A branch of sweet cherry and the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly,...
Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, object no. RP-T-1946-73
Müllerian mimicry: butterflies
Heliconius butterflies demonstrating Müllerian mimicry, a form of mimicry...
Axel Meyer(2006) Repeating Patterns of Mimicry. PLoS Biol 4(10): e341/Public Library of Science
body plan of a male lepidopteran
Body plan of a generalized male adult butterfly or moth and caterpillar.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Monarch butterfly
Illustration of a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
life cycle of the monarch butterfly
Life cycle of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Interactives

A closer look at butterfly wings and microscopic scales
Examine the intricate textures of butterfly wings up close, zooming seamlessly from...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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