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No one is sure how all the arthropods are related to each other, but the relationships between the major orders of insects are fairly well established (although like many other subjects of scientific research, there is still lively debate about the placement of some groups). Manducas belong to the order of "scaly-winged" insects, the Lepidoptera. Lepidoptera include butterflies, moths, and skippers.

Lepidoptera, the scaly-winged insects

Of the 165,000 species of Lepidoptera identified to date,

• 5% are butterflies
• 95% are moths

If you look closely at the wings of butterflies and moths, you will see that they are covered with tiny scales. These scales make the colors and patterns on the wings of moths and butterflies, and are commonly recognized as the powder that comes off the wings when you touch them. In the pictures below, the wing of a Cecropia moth is magnified to show the scales covering the wings and the structure of the scales themselves.

World of Insects

Life without | So many of them | Secrets of their success | Family Tree | Insect orders | Anatomy