Re: Does a butterfly flies backwards? Or she just turns around?

Hi Laura-

Most butterflies, which are members of the order Lepidoptera, suborder Rhopalocera (Click Here to go to a list of electronic resources on Lepidoptera), do not generally fly backwards. Most adult Lepidoptera have mouthparts that are formed into a tube, and are used for sucking up fluids; many are also equipped with "taste receptors" - much like the taste buds on your tongue - on the bottom of their feet, so they can tell what whatever they land on tastes like. This works well for the butterflies, because many of them feed on flowers, sucking up nectar- what they do is land on the flower, "taste" it with their feet, and determine if it's the kind of flower they like to feed on- if it is, they start feeding! Most butterflies are not particularly good at flying (in terms of agility- many are very efficient fliers, and are capable of flying thousands of kilometers), and do not need to be able to fly backwards.

Having said all that, there are actually a couple of types of Lepidoptera that can hover and will thus be able to fly backwards. Both are moths, which are Lepidopterans, and are in the suborder Heterocera. Hawk, or Sphinx Moths (family Sphingidae) are also known as "Hummingbird Moths" because they hover in front of flowers, just like Hummingbirds, while they feed on nectar. Wasp Moths (family Sesiidae) are wasp mimics, and are able to hover and fly much like moths do. I remember seeing a Wasp Moth in someone's collection once- they do indeed look just like wasps! Both of the above links are from the Insects on the Web BugBios page, which is definitely worth a click.

Rob Campbell, MAD Scientist.