Drunk
Did you know that butterflies can get drunk as well? Some like the juice of rotten fruit which sometimes contains alcohol. Sipping this juice the animals can even get too drunk to fly.

Fighting
Some butterflies defend "their" piece of land against other butterflies by fighting with them, even against other insects and birds they seem to be successful.

Strange food
Some moths only feed on the eye liquids of deer, cattle or elephants. The Asian vampire moth deserves its name - it can pierce an animal’s skin and drink its blood.

Symbiosis
Hairstreak and Metalmark butterfly caterpillars produce a nutrient-rich droplet for ants like aphids do. On the other hand the ants defend the caterpillars against predators like spiders, predatory bugs and parasitic wasps and flies. The caterpillars can communicate with the ants by using sound vibrations traveling along the leaf’s surface and attracting the ants.

Marking the way back
Moving to new feeding grounds Tent caterpillars always mark their way to return with a thread of silk they can follow.

Let’s build a house...
The caterpillars of Bagworm Moths (Psychidae) build a case around themselves which they always carry with them. It is made of silk and pieces of plants or soil. The case is opened in the front for the head part of the caterpillar with the legs and in the back to let out droppings and other kinds of waste. The caterpillar even pupates in this case. The females never leave it. When they are an adult butterfly they still stay in their case and only emit fragrances to attract males. When a male has found a female, it puts its abdomen into the case to mate. Afterwards the female lays her eggs in the case and, shrunk, falls out of the case. The hatching caterpillars will leave the case immediately to built one themselves.

Underwater life
The caterpillars of some Snout Moths (Pyralididae) live in or on water-plants. They developed two different ways to breathe. They spin parts of plants together in order to get a hollow space filled with air. The others developed a kind of gills to breathe. The species of Elophila spin nets to catch pieces of food and air-bubbles. The adult butterfly of one of these species (Acentropus niveus) hatches underwater. It is covered with a wax layer as a protection against the water. The wax also gives buoyancy to the butterfly but gets lost as the animal gets to the surface. When it has reached the surface, the butterfly hurries to get to the shore and straightens its wings there.

And on and on in a single file...
Processionary caterpillars always go together in a special way to their feeding places. Each caterpillar orients on the one in front of it. So they walk in a single file. If the first one gets to the back of the last one, the caterpillars walk in a circle for hours.

Turn the danger round
Carnivorous plants can’t do any harm to the caterpillars of an American butterfly. The caterpillar has detachable scales with which it can pave its way over the sticky surface of the plant. So it won’t stick there and can eat other animals sticking on the plant.

Licking stones
You can sometimes see Red Admirals (vanessa atalanta) lick stones. First they put a bit of spittle on the stone to dissolve minerals from it. Then they it up. Only males need these minerals.