What are moths? Moths and butterflies are insects which together form the order called Lepidoptera, meaning 'scaly-winged'. The patterns and colors of their wings are formed by thousands of tiny scales, overlapping like tiles on a roof. These can easily be dislodged as a powdery dust, so it's best not to touch their wings.

Where do they live? Moths live in some surprising places; not just gardens, farmland and woodlands, but also marshlands, sand dunes and even mountain tops! You can also see moths at any time of the year, with different species active in different months, including mid-winter.

Moths and their caterpillars have many predators and so they have a variety of tricks to avoid being eaten. Many use camouflage, with subtle colors and patterns which blend in with their surroundings. The results are not just astonishingly clever, but often very beautiful. Can you find the moth?

Where oh where can That little moth be? Moths are particularly at risk of being spotted in daylight, so many have colors and patterns to match the places they rest in. This is why so many moths are patterned in grays and browns, which are hard to see in shadows and blend with the bark of branches. The Merveille du Jour is a perfect match for lichen-covered bark. Where oh where can That little moth be?

Can you find this moth? It’s an almost perfect match for its chosen background of a cement patio.

The Buff-tip has gone one stage further and is not just the color of a twig, but the same shape too! And it resembles a specific type of twig; that of a birch tree with its characteristic silvery colored bark. As if that was not enough, it even looks exactly like a broken birch twig!

A few moths use camouflage not to be hard to see, but to disguise themselves as something distasteful, so that predators will not even think of eating them. The Chinese Character is quite noticeable, but it looks just like a bird dropping, both in shape and color. Definitely not a tempting thing to eat, huh?

Many moths use patterns that break up their outline, so that their moth shape is not so recognizable. The Angle Shades, a common garden moth, combines several strategies. The triangular markings break up its shape into sections that are less 'moth-shaped'. At the same time its colors are good for blending in amongst dead leaves or on bark. In addition its wings at rest have a crumpled shape which is similar to a dry leaf or the cracks and folds on bark.

Can you find the 2 moths in the pictures Can you find the 2 moths in the pictures? They look very similar to the Angle Shades moth because they also look like leaves.

Some moths have taken camouflage to the extremes and disguise themselves as completely different creatures. The Lunar Hornet Moth has evolved to look just like a hornet, even having similar transparent wings without scales. Knowing hornets sting, predators are likely to avoid it, not realizing it's completely harmless!

The Eyed Hawk-moth cleverly combines two tricks The Eyed Hawk-moth cleverly combines two tricks. Normally it rests with its camouflaged forewings covering its hind wings and so is difficult to see against bark. But if it is disturbed it suddenly exposes its hind wings to reveal a flash of bright eyes, which are enough to startle a predator and frighten it away.

Which one is a butterfly? Which one is a moth? Remember when we talked about animal’s mimicking other animals? The moth is on the left and it look very similar to the monarch butterfly. Why would this moth want to look like a monarch butterfly? Well, the monarch butterfly is poisonous so when the moth looks like it, animals won’t eat it for fear of eating something poisonous!

Do you think these moths are using camouflage?