Interesting Facts

According to a study carried out by the WWF (World Wildlife Federation) 25% of Brits believe that the dodo still exists. (The unfortunate flightless bird actually became extinct over 400 years ago, and yet 14 per cent of the respondents believe it is currently under threat from hunters, whilst 12% said it was not even endangered!. % OF RESPONDENTS THAT MISTAKENLY IDENTIFIED THE BELOW AS ENDANGERED SPECIES Red Admiral butterfly           38% Red kangaroo                        36% Swan                                       28% Weever fish                            28% Crane fly                                 21% Flamingo         ...

According to the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster's International Dictionary, the word butterfly came about either because the instect was supposed to like butter or because its excrement resembles butter. ( The link with dairy products is not only evident in English: the German name "Schmetterling" is derived from "Schmetten", the word for "cream" in some German dialects. Still, many websites claim that butterflies were originally called flutterbies, which is much cuter. Some even claim that Shakespeare was responsible for changing the name from flutterby to butterfly. The truth, as ever, is a bit less interesting and this case a bit disgusting.)

Butterflies' and moths' wings are actually transparent. (Irridescent scales overlap the wing, like shingles on a roof, and give the wings the colours we see. Both butterflies and moths belong to the order lepidoptera. In Greek, this means scale wing.)

Butterflies taste with their feet. (Do you think that everything tastes cheesy?)