A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth (about ten times the number of species of butterfly), with thousands of species yet to be described.[1] Most species of moth are nocturnal, but there are crepuscular and diurnal species.
Main article: Differences between butterflies and moths
Moths are not easily differentiated from butterflies. The reality is that butterflies are a small group that arose from within the "moths" (being considered as part of Ditrysia of the Neolepidoptera).[2] There is thus no way to group all of the remaining taxa in a monophyletic group, as it will always exclude that one descendant lineage. Also, both their larvae are similar to coleoptera larvae (beetle).
Mating pair of Laothoe populi, or Poplar Hawk-moths, showing two different color variants
Attraction to light:
Moths frequently appear to circle artificial lights, although the reason for this behavior remains unknown. One hypothesis advanced to explain this behavior is that moths use a technique of celestial navigation called transverse orientation. By maintaining a constant angular relationship to a bright celestial light, such as the Moon, they can fly in a straight line. Celestial objects are so far away, that even after travelling great distances, the change in angle between the moth and the light source is negligible; further, the moon will always be in the upper part of the visual field or on the horizon. When a moth encounters a much closer artificial light and uses it for navigation, the angle changes noticeably after only a short distance, in addition to being often below the horizon. The moth instinctively attempts to correct by turning toward the light, causing airborne moths to come plummeting downwards, and resulting in a spiral flight path that gets closer and closer to the light source.[10]
S..I..L..K...
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fiber, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors.
Silks are produced by several other insects, but only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing.
Bodo women rearing silkworms ©Gautam Chandra Baro )
words and all but 1st picture from wiki.