A moth is an insect related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Most of this order are moths; there are thought to be about 160,000 species of moth (nearly ten times the number of species of butterfly), with thousands of species yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, but there are crepuscular and diurnal species.
Read more about Moth: Differences Between Butterflies and Moths, Etymology, Caterpillar, Attraction To Light, Mottephobia, Notable Moths, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the word moth:
“... until the shopkeeper plants his boot in our eyes,
and unties our bone and is finished with the case,
and turns to the next customer, forgetting our face
or how we knelt at the yellow bulb with sighs
like moth wings for a short while in a small place.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“I teazed him with fanciful apprehensions of unhappiness. A moth having fluttered round the candle, and burnt itself, he laid hold of this little incident to admonish me; saying, with a sly look, and in a solemn but quiet tone, “That creature was its own tormentor, and I believe its name was BOSWELL.””
—James Boswell (1740–1795)
“Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,”
—Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830–1894)