Feet assist butterflies' feast

Most insects breed in summer because high temperatures are needed for rapid growth.

Butterflies are no exception and if you go out into the countryside in summer, you are bound to see some of Hong Kong's 200 species fluttering about. Nine of the world's 15 lepidoptera families are found here, including the blues and browns, the tigers and crows.

The wings of a large butterfly may hold more than a million scales. The stunning colours in these microscopic, overlapping scales are produced either by pigments or by structure - some scales are grooved so they split light and create a shimmering iridescence.

Butterflies taste both through hair on their feet and the palpi, organs near the proboscis (the long curled tongue). A butterfly usually has a walk on its food before it realises what it is! Although butterflies don't have ears, they can hear through special hair on the side of the body. They smell with their antennae which have nerves. These control balance and direction by sending messages to the brain which in turn controls the wings.

The plain tiger feeds on poisonous plants while it is in the larval stage. The toxins accumulate in its body and are also found in the adults. The butterfly is unharmed but any predator which eats it will find it extremely distasteful and will steer clear of butterflies with that wing pattern in future.

When it holds its wings vertically, the dark evening brown butterfly looks like part of a dead leaf. Potential predators such as birds cannot see past the camouflage so miss out on a delicious meal.