Moth Scavenger hunt
1. What is a moth?
2. Name 4 characteristics that make moths different
from butterflies.
3. What ecological roles does a moth have?
Source: Butterflies
4. Name four
different types of moths.
5. What do moths eat?
6. How long is a moth’s lifespan?
7. What is the “humming bird” moth?
8. Are the stages of a moth’s development similar to
that of the butterfly?
9. Can you distinguish the difference between a moth
caterpillar and a butterfly caterpillar?
10. What are the four stages of life for a moth?
1. A moth is a type of winged insect which ranges in
size from very small at .08 inch (2 mm) to rather large at 11.8 inches (300 mm)
across. There are roughly 165,000 moth species in the world, with 13,000 of
those living in North America.
2. 1) moths fly during the day, while butterflies
fly during the night 2.) A butterfly's antenna has knobs at the ends of their
feelers, and the ends of the moth’s antenna are either feather like or plain. Typically
butterflies have brightly colored wings and moths have dull colored wings.
3.) Butterflies and moths play several important ecological roles:
- Adults pollinate many plants whose flowers attract them
with sugar-rich nectar.
- Larvae browse certain parts of plants, including seeds
and flowers, influencing the plants’ shape.
- Many predators and parasitoids eat them.
4. Royal moth, sphinx moths, Plume moth, silk worm
moth, slug worm moth, etc.
5. Most moths and nearly
all butterfly caterpillars eat the leaves and flowers of plants. Some
moth caterpillars eat fruit, or seeds, and a few eat animal foods like beeswax
or fur.
6. The length of the life
cycle of the moth depends greatly on humidity levels. Warm, dark rooms with 75
per cent relative humidity are most ideal for moth development.
7. Adult appearance is
variable; Hummingbird mimic. The thorax is olive to golden-olive in color
dorsally, yellow ventrally; abdomen is dark burgundy (sometimes almost black)
both dorsally and ventrally, with light olive to dark golden patches dorsally.
Wings mostly clear with reddish brown terminal borders and dark scaling along
veins
8.
The stages of development for a moth are the
same as butterflies.
9. There is no feature
that will distinguish a butterfly caterpillar from a moth caterpillar. You can
only tell them apart by learning what the caterpillars of each butterfly and
moth group look like.
10. For an ecosystem to
sustain a butterfly or moth species, it must provide the exact requirements for
all stages of its life history (egg, larva, pupa and adult).
Midterm, midterm, midterm - let's get it done. Remember it is due no mater than Thursday February 28 at 11:00 a.m. I will accept late assignments until 8 p.m. with a 20% deduction. Anything after that will receive a 0. Please turn in your documents as a package.
