Among the world's million or more known insect species, the order formed by the moths and butterflies--called Lepidoptera (from Greek lepido-, "scaly" and ptera, "wings") for the often brightly-colored scales which cover their wings--ac counts for a substantial proportion in terms of both populations and number of species. It is the second largest of the more than 30 insect orders.
在地球上百萬種昆蟲裡，飛蛾與蝴蝶組成的家族，因為翅膀上覆有顏色五彩繽紛的鱗片，被稱為「鱗翅目」，它們的數量與種類可觀，在構成昆蟲三十幾個目中名列第二。