
About Butterflies and Moths – Part 7
By Mary Free, Extension Master Gardener
As we wind down our celebration of Pollinator Week, we invite you to solve the Lepidopteran Crossword Puzzle below. True, it does not strictly follow traditional crossword puzzle rules. For example, the grids are not diagonally symmetrical and it uses several two-letter abbreviations or words. However, about half of the words relate to lepidopterans and their life cycle, morphology, habits, and survival tactics. You may remember many of the answers if you have read this week’s About Butterflies and Moths series.
We hope you enjoy this challenge. Good luck! Answers will post tonight.
ACROSS 1. Membrane-enclosed cavity 4. Common brush-footed butterfly named for conspicuous, target-shaped eyespots found on its forewings and hindwings 8. Imported Mediterranean moth named after the finely milled grain in which it lays its eggs 10. Chrysalis 12. Opposite of north: Abbr. 13. Lepidopterans go through ____ stages of metamorphosis 14. A sharp-pointed dueling sword 15. Variant of a stimulant drug found in the leaves of an East African shrub 16. Caterpillar 18. Objective form of we 19. Set of software libraries/tools that help build applications for human-like machines: Abbr. 21. Caterpillars ____ leaves with their mandibles 22. Last letter of the alphabet 24. Butterfly named for the pearl-colored half-moon shape in the dark marginal patch on its ventral hindwing 26. Educational institution located where the Mayo Clinic was founded: Abbr. 27. Belonging to the Changeling in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 28. Rug for people to wipe their feet on 30. Family of butterflies with hairy, bottlebrush-like, front appendages so short, butterflies appear to have only 4 legs 33. Beneficiaries: Suffix 35. Butterflies and moths smell by using sensors on their ____ 37. Opposite of NEE 38. East of the Rockies, this butterfly can migrate up to 3,000 miles to overwinter in Mexico 41. Head covering 43. Federation of North American motor clubs: Abbr. 44. Lowest adult male singing voice 45. Whats____ or TikTok 48. Natural satellite of a planet 50. Professional who applies cosmetics on a client: Abbr. 51. Brush-footed Batesian mimic of the poisonous pipevine swallowtail 52. Travel route (usually paved): Abbr. 53. Mother 55. Large, long-tailed, green moth named for moon-like eyespots on both its forewings and hindwings 56. Misfortunes 58. Number of adult lepidopteran legs 59. One girl 60. Replaces AD when referring to dates 61. An unconditional assurance in writing to pay a sum of money to another: Abbr. 64. Saturniid moth whose hindwings have a large black and blue eyespot with a white dash in the middle and that uses redbud (Cercis) as a host plant 66. Voluntary association of lawyers: Abbr. 68. Period beyond regulation play when a game is tied: Abbr. 69. High performance car 70. Chimed 72. Plant that an organism lives on, like parsley or dill for a black swallowtail caterpillar 74. Periodic table symbol for the chemical element darmstadtium 75. Color subfamily of gossamer-winged butterflies 76. Most female butterflies ____ eggs singly, but a few species deposit eggs in clusters 77. Grow old 78. All right 79. “That’s the ____” or what perched hairstreaks and tailed-blues might do to their wings to move their “tails” to mimic antennae 80. Instead of flower nectar, some adult butterflies (like 15-Down and 50-Across) prefer to feed on tree ____, overripe fruit, carrion, and dung 81. Shed old cuticle to make way for new growth
DOWN 2. Key component of a computer system: Abbr. 3. Scales that cover the bodies and wings of lepidopterans are modified ____ 5. Utilize 6. Color subfamily of gossamer-winged butterflies 7. Adult butterflies and moths have a pair of compound ____ 8. The droppings of insect larvae 9. Protected locations, like leaf undersides or bark or rock crevices, where butterflies seek refuge at night or during bad weather 11. Protocol for specifying addresses on the internet: Abbr. 13. Butterflies taste plants by using sensory structures on their ____ 15. Butterfly named after a white, punctuation-mark-like spot on its hindwing17. Spring and summer blues hosted by New Jersey tea 19. The admiral with ____ forewing band and hindwing margin and white spots 20. Yoko ____ 23. Flightless, fast-running, ostrich-like, Australian birds 24. Groups of fall armyworms “march” in unison to decimate lawns or ____ grasses (oats, wheat, rye) 25. Large marine fish commonly sold in food markets 28. Lepidopterans 29. Eastern moth caterpillars named for the silken shelter they construct in the crotch of a tree, often cherry, where they congregate during their larval stage when they are not feeding 30. Caterpillar of Virginian tiger moth called yellow (wooly) ____ 31. Fruit of the hawthorn32. Imported white butterfly with small black dots on its wings best known as a pest of this vegetable crop 34. Small diurnal moth named after the ____ spot on its forewing and band on its hindwing and its host species 36. Female swallowtail with two forms: yellow form similar to the male of the species and dark form considered to be a mimic of the poisonous pipevine swallowtail 39. ____ dogface butterfly is endemic to and state insect of this west coast state: Abbr. 40. Moth family with the longest tongues of all ledidopterans 42. Butterfly with common name derived from the Latin word, fritillus, which means chessboard 45. Lady butterfly with two prominent eyespots on ventral hindwing often confused with her Old World cosmopolitan sister 46. What butterflies do when they seek out mineral-rich liquids in wet soil, sand, or stone 47. Bland soft food for infants 49. Invasive moths that have defoliated over 83 million acres since 1970 and whose old name was an ethnic slur 54. Domestic bovine animal 57. Small grass skipper whose name means the paramount chief among some Native American tribes 58. A large or boldly colored eye____ on a butterfly wing is thought to intimidate predators 62. Butterflies ____ in the sun with wings open to warm their muscles 63. The month following National Pollinator Week 65. Capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan 67. College degree: Abbr. 71. An adult mourning cloak will hibernate in a tree hollow or a ____ under loose bark 73. Smart card used in mobile phones and smart watches 74. To differentiate between the sexes, look for this black mark on each hindwing of a male monarch