Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera (Lepidopteran) [ Entomology ]

Dictionary of botanic terminology
index of names

The Lepidoptera is one of the largest order of insects, which includes Butterflies, Skippers, Moths, Leaf Rollers, Hawk-Moths, Noctuids, Geometers, Processionary, Caterpillars, Coppers, Whites, Burnets... (The order comprises more than 180,000 species, second only to the Coleoptera (the beetles).

Sulcorebutia gerosenilis KK 2005 and a common Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon)

A butterfly the "Common Swallowtail" (a Lepidoptera of the Papilionoidea family Papilio machaon) on a flower of Sulcorebutia gerosenilis

Lepidopterans go through a four-stage life cycle of egg–larva/caterpillar–pupa/chrysalis–imago/adult. Adults (butterflies) have two pairs of membranous broad wings, covered with minute scales, commonly brightly coloured. They have a tubular proboscis (mouth parts) adapted for sucking that - when not in use - can be coiled up spirally. The mandibles are rudimentary or absent. The adults feed for the most part on the nectar of flowers and are important pollinator. The larvae, called caterpillars, are frequently brightly coloured, and they commonly feed on leaves and other plants organ, many of them are dangerous herbivorous parasites and may cause serious damage in cultivation.

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Holdfast roots [ Botany ]
Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.

Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994