The Oxford English Dictionary derives the word straightforwardly from Old English butorflēoge, butter-fly; similar names in Old Dutch See more

Butterflies are scientifically classified in the macrolepidopteran suborder clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Traditionally, butterflies have been … See more

Declining butterfly populations have been noticed in many areas of the world, and this phenomenon is consistent with the rapidly decreasing insect populations around the world. At least in the Western United States, this collapse in the number of most species of … See more

• Kawahara, A.Y.; Storer, C.; Carvalho, A.P.S.; et al. (15 May 2023). "A Global Phylogeny of Butterflies Reveals Their Evolutionary History, … See more

The earliest Lepidoptera fossils date to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, around 200 million years ago. Butterflies evolved from moths, so while the … See more

General description
Butterfly adults are characterized by their four scale-covered wings, which give the Lepidoptera their name (Ancient Greek λεπίς lepís, scale + … See more

In art and literature
Butterflies have appeared in art from 3500 years ago in ancient Egypt. In hunting scenes, butterflies were sometimes included in a way … See more