Butterflies and Moths May Have Predated Flowers

Think of some scaly animals.Odds are butterflies didn’t come to mind. But butterflies and moths have scales on their wings, legs and bodies. Thanks to those scales, researchers have found the oldest known fossils of butterflies and moths, both in the order Lepidoptera, according to a paper published Wednesday in Science Advances.While the Lepidoptera order is highly studied, scientists know little about its evolutionary history. But understanding how these primitive butterflies and m