Welcome to Dave McCormick's Moth and Butterfly World. This part shows why butterflies can be important.

Go Back to Species identification/FAQ

Stripping the Land

Butterflies and Moths only appear to do three things, eat, mate and die. But what else do they really do?

Ever thought that, without butterflies and moths, the plants in the wilderness would simply overgrow in many cases? Sure man is there to prevent this, some animals too, but what about places man hardly ever goes or where animals don't eat the plants or are there, what about protected land where you cannot strip the land of plants?

Caterpillars as most know are furious eaters. They spend most of their time eating from the moment they leave the egg. Some can even kill plants this way. One known species is the caterpillar of the Cinnabar Moth (Tyria jacobaeae). Its black and yellow caterpillars feed on Ragwort. They can be so devastating that they can kill the plant. They eat the flower, stem and seed, so more plants cannot be created. Farmers have used these to control the plant in their fields, where if a animal were to eat it, they would die.

Butterfly and moth caterpillars strip various plants and ensure that they don't overgrow or whatever. Some however can be pests. They can be found in orchards and can cause damage to the trees there. Some even bore into trees and cause damage to the inside of the tree.

You can now see how butterfly and moth caterpillars help keep nature in check. Without them, (if man did not do anything), nature would run wilder then ever in some places.