In Australia, there are over 10,000 named species of moths compared with only about 370 species of butterflies. Added to this, many moths have yet to be collected and named, whereas very few butterfly species remain to be discovered in Australia. The common names of many moths are derived from the behaviour and appearance of their Caterpillars. This situation is unlike that for butterflies, the common names for which are usually derived from the adult forms. The difference stems from the fact that common names are given by ordinary people and are handed down by generations.
Butterflies fly mainly by day, whereas moth adults fly mainly at night.
Also, moth Caterpillars are often made conspicuous by the damage they do to plants, as the Caterpillars of many moth species are important agricultural pests. Thus the stage of moth development that is most often encountered by ordinary people by day is the Caterpillar. Actually, very few Australian moths have English common names, as there have been only 200 years or so of English settlement in Australia. Even the moth families are usually referred to by derivatives of their scientific names in Australia. The situation is very different from that in Europe and America where most common moth species have common names.