Butterfly Info Characteristics Butterflies belong to the order Lepidoptera which means scale wings.
Butterflies are the only insects to have their wings covered with millions of scales.
The scales give the butterflies their color and help them fly by trapping air between the individual scales. There are about 15,000 butterflies in the world and ten times that many moths or about 150,000 species. There are exceptions. There are brightly colored moths and d ull butterflies. Some butterflies sit with their wings open.