These insects are important pollinators of plants and their caterpillars are a primary food source for songbirds. As a general rule, moths fly by night and butterflies fly by day. Butterflies depend on their bright colors to tell birds they have eaten plant toxins and therefore taste bad. Night-flying moths don't have this worry except for an occasional bat looking for a meal. Moths disguise themselves as dead leaves, lichen and bark during the day.
Butterflies perch with their wings up and have club-like knobs on their antennae tips.
Moth antennae look more like feathers and they perch with their wings outspread. A mature cecropia caterpillar crawls in search of its favorite vegetation during the summer months. Caterpillars of silk moth species feed one to two months before they spin a cocoon that will keep them covered durng the long winter. Caterpillars can be identified as to what moth species they will become. A common misconception about moths is that they are attracted to light.