leps in French

[Ian Thirlwell]

Ernest Williams <ewilliam at hamilton.edu> wrote in message
news:l03130305b548969d89d2@[150.209.97.55]...
> French-speaking LEPS-L folks,
>
> Two days ago I gave talks about leps to thirty-six 11- and 12-year
olds
> from Paris who are staying in my town (upstate New York, USA) for 3
weeks
> of cultural exchange.  No, they didn't have to rely on my poor high
school
> French; the kids speak varying degrees of English, and several
teachers
> were with them to help translate.  Some questions arose, however, from
our
> conversations.
>
> 1. Are moths always referred to as "les papillons de nuit"?  That
brought
> about some confusion when I said some papillons de nuit are active
during
> the day.
>
> 2. Is "chenille" a general term for any caterpillar, or are there
> additional terms?
>
> 3. What is the French word for pupa?  The kids all understood
"cocoon", but
> the teachers from Paris had no idea what a pupa is, while the American
> teachers of French (who've heard me before) know what a pupa is but
have no
> French word for it.
>
> 4. What is the French word for wing scales?
>
> Thanks (oops, I mean merci),
> Ernest Williams
>
>
1. Strictly speaking "papillon" is used for both butterflies and moths
with no systematic-linguistic distinction. In English you could use
lep(idopter) in the same way perhaps, in which case "papillon de nuit"
might translate as "night flying lep". A night flying lep active during
the day would therefore sound illogical in French.

2. Only "larve" for "larva" I think.

3. Pupa is "pupe" or "chrysalide" (the latter = chrysalis).

4. Well wings are "ailes" and scales are "écailles" (e with acute
accent). To quote from an old Petit Larousse definition of "papillon" it
has "quatres ailes couvertes d'écailles fines comme la poussière..." (e
with grave accent)

Ian