Examples of lepidoptera in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
While in the Eje Cafetero, check-out the lepidoptera at Jardin Botánico de Quindío, where some 50 species flit about a netted enclosure. Yellow butterflies flew around Gabriel García Márquez's grandparents' house in Aracataca, where he was born and lived as a child.
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Christopher Baker, Travel + Leisure, 7 Jan. 2022
Want to explore your local lepidoptera?
—Catherine Hoffman, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2017
How exactly did a space dedicated to the study and preservation of the lepidoptera land in the crosshairs of far-right extremists?
—Fidel Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2022
And its butterfly garden allowed visitors to walk through a room brimming with hundreds of monarchs, common sergeants, tailed jays and other fluttering lepidoptera.
—Jerry Dicolo | Staff Writer, NOLA.com, 5 Sep. 2020
Biologists have long hypothesized that the evolutionary transformation within the species lepidoptera could be traced back to the moths’ understandable desire to avoid getting eaten by nocturnal bats.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz at Work, 23 Oct. 2019
Most moths are nocturnal; butterflies are essentially moths that have evolved to be diurnal, or active during the day, says Robert Robbins, a curator of lepidoptera at the National Museum of Natural History.
—Anna Diamond, Smithsonian, 19 Apr. 2018
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Christopher Baker, Travel + Leisure, 7 Jan. 2022
Want to explore your local lepidoptera?
—Catherine Hoffman, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2017
How exactly did a space dedicated to the study and preservation of the lepidoptera land in the crosshairs of far-right extremists?
—Fidel Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2022
And its butterfly garden allowed visitors to walk through a room brimming with hundreds of monarchs, common sergeants, tailed jays and other fluttering lepidoptera.
—Jerry Dicolo | Staff Writer, NOLA.com, 5 Sep. 2020
Biologists have long hypothesized that the evolutionary transformation within the species lepidoptera could be traced back to the moths’ understandable desire to avoid getting eaten by nocturnal bats.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz at Work, 23 Oct. 2019
Most moths are nocturnal; butterflies are essentially moths that have evolved to be diurnal, or active during the day, says Robert Robbins, a curator of lepidoptera at the National Museum of Natural History.
—Anna Diamond, Smithsonian, 19 Apr. 2018
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lepidoptera.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
circa 1773, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near lepidoptera
Cite this Entry
“Lepidoptera.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lepidoptera. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
lepidoptera
noun plural
lep·i·dop·tera
ˌlep-ə-ˈdäp-tə-rə 
: insects that are lepidopterans
Medical Definition
lepidoptera
noun plural
lep·i·dop·tera
ˌlep-ə-ˈdäp-tə-rə
1
capitalized
: a large order of insects comprising the butterflies, moths, and skippers that as adults have four broad or lanceolate wings usually covered with overlapping and often brightly colored scales and that as larvae are caterpillars
2
: insects of the order Lepidoptera
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