No one knows for sure where the word came from. One story tells of British landowners a long time ago saying that yellow butterflies looked like flying butter. Another old story tells of butterflies stealing milk and butter - something butterflies do not do. Winging It Butterflies are insects. Like a knight s suit of armor, a hard outer shell called an exoskeleton covers their body.
Butterflies have three pairs of legs.
A butterfly s most noticeable feature is its two pairs of wings. The wings are covered with thousands of tiny, colorful scales - about 125,000 scales per square inch. The scales overlap, like shingles on a roof. The scales come off easily. Some butterflies look like other kinds of butterflies to confuse birds.