What are the differences between moths and butterflies?

That was a key question asked at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's annual Moth Night, held both indoors and outdoors on the UC Davis campus on Saturday, July 20. 

Doctoral student Iris Quayle of the laboratory of Professor Jason Bond, director of the Bohart (and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, Agricultural Sciences, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences), staffed a station explaining the differences. 

Some major points:

• Both butterflies and moths are members of the order Lepidoptera and both are pollinators.
• Both go through a complete metamorphosis, from egg to larva (caterpillar) to pupa to adult. Butterflies pupate in a chrysalis while a moth pupates in a cocoon.
• A butterfly's antennae have club-like tips whereas moths have feathery, thick, comb-like antennae. 
• Butterflies are diurnal or active during the day, while moths are generally active at night. But some moths, including the white-lined sphinx moth, are both diurnal and nocturnal (active at night).
• Generally, a butterfly's wings are brightly colored and moths are dull in color, but not always. Some moths, such as the Ranchman's tiger moth, are beautifully colored.

Globally, scientists have described about 18,000 species of butterflies and 180,000 species of moths, "and hundreds of newly named species are added every year," according to Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart. "It's also believed that we may know of no more than 10-15 percent of the species actually out there, with the small 'micro-Lepidoptera' likely with over 90 percent of the species in the world still unknown. This emphasizes the importance of preserving natural environments so things don't go extinct before we can ever recognize their importance to the Earth and their relationships in their habitats."

The Bohart Museum's global collection of 8 million insects includes some 825,454 specimens of moths and butterflies, including 618,750 moths, ranging in size from the huge Atlas moths (10-inch wingspan) to the extremely tiny (4 mm wingspan) leafminer moths.  

Founded in 1946, the Bohart Museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. The open houses are free and family friendly. The next open house is on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 1 to 4 p.m. The theme: "Museum ABC's: Arthropods, Bohart and Collecting." Check out the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu or email bmuseum@ucdavis.edu for more information.

Busy as a bee? 

No, as industrious as a Lepidopterist. 

Specifically, as industrious and dedicated as Jeff Smith, curator of the moth and butterfly collection at the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology--a collection that an international authority on Lepidoptera praised as “The Gold Standard” of Lep collections.

But more about that later.  

Smith, fascinated by insects since his childhood in San Jose,  considers entomology “my passion” and the Bohart Museum “my cause.” 

You may remember him from back in 2015, when he received a  highly competitive Friend of the College Award from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Lynn Kimsey, then director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis professor of entomology (and now distinguished professor emerita) nominated Smith for the award. “You could not ask for a better friend than Jeff Smith,” she said, noting that he has “brought us international acclaim and saved us $160,000 through donations of specimens and materials, identification skills and his professional woodworking skills. This does not include the thousands of hours he has donated in outreach programs that draw attention to the museum, the college and the university.”

Kimsey, who directed the museum for 34 years, stepping down on Feb. 1, 2024 when Professor Jason Bond accepted the position, remembers when Smith joined the museum. “When Jeff was working for Univar Environmental Services, a 35-year career until his retirement in 2013, he would spend some of his vacation days at the museum. Over the years Jeff took over more and more of the curation of the butterfly and moth collection. He took home literally thousands of field pinned specimens and spread their wings at home, bringing them back to the museum perfectly mounted. To date he has spread the wings on more than 200,000 butterflies and moths. This translates into something like 33,000 hours of work!”

Kimsey praised Smith for completely reorganizing the butterfly and moth collection. “It's no small feat to rearrange this many specimens, housed in roughly one thousand drawers,” she said. “Many thousands of the specimens needed to be identified, and the taxonomy required extensive updating and reorganization.” (See news story)

We caught up with Smith the other day for an update.

A Bohart volunteer since 1998, Smith has donated some 100,000 specimens (primarily butterflies, moths but a few other insects, including beetles) to the Bohart Museum. To date, he has spread the wings of some 180,000 moth and butterflies. He has crafted and donated some 2,475 wooden specimen drawers.  He is valued for his expertise and public outreach at the Bohart Museum's open houses, usually about nine in number. The open houses include UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Take-Your-Daughters-and-Sons-to-Work Day.

In addition, Smith annually presents an evening spreading class to the UC Davis Entomology Club as well as an annual presentation to Bio Boot Camp. He also speaks at 12 to 15 other venues per year, engaging students at School Science Days and in individual classrooms.

825,454 Specimens in Lep Collection. “We have 825,454 specimens of moths and butterflies,” he said, delighted to be showing the collection at the Bohart Museum's Moth Night from 7 to 11 on Saturday, July 20, in celebration of National Moth Week.  “We have around 618,750 moths, ranging in size from the huge Atlas moths (10-inch wingspan) to the extremely tiny (4 mm wingspan) leafminer moths.”  The event is free and family friendly. 

Colors of the moths "range from brown or gray ones with no particular markings to the extraordinary Sunset Moth from Madagascar, with its green, yellow, and violet colors," he said. "Some moths are perfect mimics of leaves or tree bark, some are brightly colored to advertise their unpalatable nature, while others mimic stinging wasps and bees for their protection. Some moths do not feed at all as the adult moth, while others may have a drinking tube (their proboscis) up to 12 inches long. A few exotic species use this proboscis to drink blood from mammals or the tears of sleeping people. Some moth species are important pollinators of various plants and trees while others, like the Gypsy Moth, are terribly destructive to forests in North America."

Some of his favorite moths are in the subfamily Arctiinae. "They're called Tiger Moths because of their colors and amazing ability to resemble stinging wasps. We have a very large worldwide collection of this group.” 

Worldwide, scientists have described about 18,000 species of butterflies and 180,000 species of moths, "and hundreds of newly named species are added every year," Smith said. "It's also believed that we may know of no more than 10-15 percent of the species actually out there, with the small 'micro-Lepidoptera' likely with over 90 percent of the species in the world still unknown. This emphasizes the importance of preserving natural environments so things don't go extinct before we can ever recognize their importance to the Earth and their relationships in their habitats. '

In his own words: 

How many specimens have you spread?

“I believe I typically spread 6,000 or more moths and butterflies each year for the past 30 plus years, and at this moment, I am spreading several thousand specimens just brought back from another Belize excursion. Everything butterfly or moth that comes to the museum is handed to me to curate, label, identify, and incorporate into the collection, which I believe may now house nearly 3/4 million Lepidoptera.” 

How many specimen drawers have you made?

“To date I have made and donated 2,475 drawers, and in my garage shop I am currently making another 23 as the museum suddenly became short on empty drawers. About 1/4 of the drawers have been out of repurposed redwood from old decks and fencing.  

Estimated number of hours you've donated to the Bohart?

“This is difficult to say, as most of the work I do is at home (Rocklin) on a daily basis, perhaps 2 to 3 hours each day. I get into the museum once a week to put away what I've done at home, so 9 to 10 hours there as well. Even on vacations away from home I take projects to work on daily on my computer-- spreadsheets, new unit tray labels, new pull tab labels, so that adds many more hours as well, and I've been doing this for 35 years.” 

Woodworking Skills.  Smith is known for his woodworking skills, as exemplified by his intricate specimen drawers. The cost? "The drawers alone would cost about $60 each," he estimated, "so a savings of about $150,000." He added: "I am a volunteer, so the hours I put in are at no cost to the museum. I make and provide all the spreading boards for those classes, along with pins and specimens. I realize that I have saved the museum a great deal of money, but still believe that it is I who am the lucky one to have this quality research museum at my disposal for my passion with insects.” 

Smith is an active member of the international Lepidopterists' Society (since 1967). He and his colleagues hosted the 2019 meeting of the Lepidopterists' Society in Davis. 

Now, back to "The Gold Standard."

"The Gold Standard” praise came from Professor Paul Opler (1938-2023) of Colorado State University, an international authority on Lepidoptera and author of noted books on butterflies and moths, including the Peterson Field Guide to Butterflies of Eastern North America, the Peterson Field Guide to Butterflies of Western North America, Butterflies East of the Great Plains: An Illustrated Natural History, and Moths of Western North America. butterflies. Opler (who by the way, served as the first editor of American Entomologist, published by the Entomological Society of  America), received his doctorate in entomology in 1970 from UC Berkeley,

“About 10 years ago, Paul spent a few days in the Bohart going through our Notodontidae collection in preparation for a revision of that family now available,” Smith recalled. Upon returning home, Opler emailed Smith:  “I consider the Bohart Lepidoptera collection to be The Gold Standard to which we all should aspire.”

“That huge compliment," Smith said, "spoke to the time I have spent with this magnificent collection."

A monarch butterfly caterpillar goes through five stages or instars before it J's and becomes a jade-green chrysalis.

Scientists estimate that only 10 percent of the eggs and 'cats survive to adulthood.

They don't "survive" at all in California classrooms.

California classrooms used to showcase the metamorphosis of the monarch--from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult-- but no more. If you live in California, you're not allowed to collect or rear monarchs without a scientific permit. And scientific permits are difficult to obtain.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:  "A Scientific Collecting Permit (SCP) is required to handle wild monarchs in California including for educational purposes. It is unlawful to collect, remove from the wild and/or captively rear monarchs in California without an SCP, per California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 14, section 650.

Admire them in the wild, but legally, you can't collect or rear them. 

As a child growing up in the San Jose area,  entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, "raised and released many, many dozens of monarchs, as most empty lots were filled with vast stands of narrow-leaf milkweed, and we could easily gather caterpillars and keep them fed and healthy until they matured. This was an extraordinary thing to be able to watch--the final instar of the larva molting to change to the beautiful chrysalis and then seeing the butterfly develop within the chrysalis and hatch. We would hold it on our finger as the wings expanded and, finally, the butterfly flew away."

Unless you're an entomologist, moth enthusiast, or an avid follower of National Moth Week, you may have never seen or heard about sheep moths.

Those who attended the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on social wasps, held Jan. 20, learned all about them from entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the lepidoptera collection, and Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas.

Many of the day-flying, beautifully colored sheep moths are commonly mistaken for butterflies. 

"We have around 50 drawers of moths in the genus Hemileuca, often called Buck Moths, and the genus is comprised of 24 species in North America," Smith said. "It is likely this will expand as studies with DNA more accurately define species and relationships. The "Sheep Moth,"  Hemileuca eglanterina, takes up around 10 drawers in the Bohart Museum. It is a highly variable species, ranging from nearly black to pink/yellow to the typical orange with black markings. In all, we likely have around 400-500 specimens of this species."

Smith takes a special interest in the Bohart Museum's sheep moths, as many were collected by his brother, the late Mike Smith, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran. Mike, who moved to Folsom following his retirement, "raised many hundreds of the moths in the Hemileuca from caterpillars and eggs," Jeff said. "I suspect his goal (Mike died in 2003) would have been to make some sense of the great geographic variability in some of the species, such as Hemileuca hera, which ranges from nearly white to nearly black, depending on the locale it is found in."

"Given the theme of 'social wasps' for the event, visitors were fascinated by the great many moths that so closely resemble wasps and bees, in the families Sesiidae (clearwing moths), Sphingidae the genus Hemaris) and Erebidae, the subfamily Arctiinae or tiger moths," Smith said. "They also enjoyed species such as the Atlas Moths, Luna Moth, Death Head Moth, and others that we guided them to."

There's much misinformation on the Internet about "sheep moth infestations" on sheep, Smith said. "The sheep moth, Hemileuca eglanterina,  absolutely does NOT feed on anything to do with sheep. The larvae eat only plants. However, one website said that moth larvae--presumably clothes moths--will feed on the wool while it is still on a sheep, which is FALSE. These larvae feed only on things long gone from any animal, like hair, feathers, wool, felt, etc."

The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a live petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, taranatulas and more) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, books, posters, and jewelry. 

The next Bohart Museum open house is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 10, during the 13th annual UC Davis Biodiverity Museum Day. It is one of 10 museums or collections open, with varying hours. The event is free and family friendly.