Beth Herndon, age 10, of Visalia, California, for her question:

Are moths and butterflies really different?

All of them belong to the same order of insects. Its name is Lepidoptera, which means the scaley winged ones. Under a microscope, we can see that moth and butterfly wings are covered with scaley little flakes. All these insects have the same four life stages. They progress from eggs to hungry caterpillars, become sleeping pupae and finally hatch into winged adults. But there are a few outstanding differences between the moths and butterflies.

The butterflies are gorgeous creatures of the daytime and most moths prefer to flutter around after sunset. The butterflies wear long, skinny antennas, with bumps on the ends. Moth antennas are shaped like wide, tapering leaves, with furry hair. Most moths spin silken cocoons and most butterfly pupae have crisp shells. The microscope proves that their powdery wings are very different. Butterfly scales are long ridged oblongs with wavy ends. Moth scales may look like small fans, slim fingers or long, thin pencils.