"lepido" = scales
"ptera" = wing or scaly wing

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Butterflies and moths - second largest order of insects Over 100,000 known species Thousands still undescribed.

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Butterflies live on every continent, wherever insect life is reported, --even at 20,000 feet in the Himalayas.

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The wings of butterflies and moths are fabricated like shingles and contain pigment. The colours on a butterfly are created by this dust like pigment on the scales. The scales are marvelously designed, light, and are hollow. Where scales are lacking, the wings are transparent.

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The North American Monarch butterfly's taste is more than 2,000 times as sensitive as the human tongue.

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Not all butterflies live on nectar. Some are attracted to rotting fruits and a few prefer the flesh of dead animals.

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Lepidoptera have two large compound eyes and are capable of full-colour, diorama sight.