Entomologists theorize that moths evolved 90 million years before butterflies; the group scientists consider "butterflies" are just a small, more recent lineage of moths. Comparing the olfactory senses and retention capabilities of a night-flying moth and a day-flying butterfly will provide insight into their differences. Now that it has been confirmed that the M. sextamoth can remember to avoid a scent from larvae to adulthood, this experiment determines if the butterfly V. cardui can remember the same smell, and if so, is the retention better or worse than that of M. sexta?

Vanessa cardui is a day flying lepidopteran in the largest family of butterflies, Nympha lidae. The butterfly relies more on sight and courtship dances to attract a mate, while the moth relies almost fully on its ability to sense pheromones. The differences in morphology suggest that the abilities of these two species remember aversion to smell may be significantly different. However, Carlsson MA et. al claims that the olfactory receptor repertoire of Nymphalidae is remarkably similar to that of moths, which could mean that V. cardui and M. sexta would have very similar retention capabilities.

This experiment confirms the differences in retention of smells between a Nymphalid butterfly and a Sphingid moth using an effective aversion treatment Groups of both species are trained to avoid the smell of Ethyl Acetate by giving them a mild shock while exposing them to EA particles. Control groups receive only the EA exposure, only the shock, and neither. The caterpillars then pupate, and after emergence, they are tested in a Y-choice apparatus to determine if they retained the aversion to EA through metamorphosis.