Swallowtail butterfly Swallowtail butterfly Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of the genus "Ornithoptera". Swallowtails have a number of distinctive features; for example, the papilionid caterpillar bears a repugnatorial organ called the osmeterium on its prothorax. The osmeterium normally remains hidden, but when threatened, the larva turns it outward through a transverse dorsal groove by inflating it with fluid. The forked appearance of the swallowtails' hindwings, which
Bookworm (insect) Bookworm (insect) Bookworm is a popular generalization for any insect that is said to bore through books. True book-borers are uncommon. Two types of moths, the common clothes moth and the brown house moth, will attack cloth bindings. Leather-bound books attract various beetles, such as the larder beetle, drugstore beetle and the larva of the black carpet beetle. Larval death watch beetles and common furniture beetles will tunnel through wood and paper (if it is nearby the wood). A major book-feeding insect is the book or paper louse (also known as booklouse or paperlouse). These are tiny (under 1 mm),