There are over 20,000 species of butterfly. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is North Carolina’s state butterfly!
There are so many butterfly facts, it is hard to know where to begin! But here we go.
Out of the 20,000 species of butterflies in the world, only 750 live in North America. And since butterflies can’t fly when temperatures drop below 55F degrees, they don’t live in places like Antarctica where it stays cold year round.
So what happens when it gets really cold? Well, some butterflies like the monarch migrate to warmer places such as Mexico for the winter. Other butterflies hibernate in leaves while some perish if it gets too cold.
Butterflies also have a very unique and special developmental process or life cycle you may have heard of before, it’s called metamorphosis!
What is Metamorphosis?
Every butterfly caterpillar goes through several stages, called metamorphosis, in becoming a butterfly. All butterflies, which are insects, start out as caterpillars but not all caterpillars turn into butterflies. Sounds like quite the riddle.
So what caterpillars don’t turn into butterflies? The ones that turn into moths which is a whole different topic. But hold on, let’s start at the beginning. A female butterfly mates with a male and lays her eggs on a plant.
Butterflies lay their eggs on host plants.
This is often on a specific plant (called a host plant) that will provide food for the egg when it hatches.
The zebra swallowtail only lays its eggs on a pawpaw tree.
And what are some host plants for specific butterflies? The zebra swallowtail will only lay its eggs on a pawpaw tree while the spicebush swallowtail needs either a spicebush or sassafras plant on which to lay its eggs.
Eggs can hatch in as quickly as a few days (or months or even years, depending on the type of butterfly) into a caterpillar, also called a larva.
Once hatched caterpillars begin to eat their host plant.
The caterpillar then begins to eat and eat its host plant, shedding its skin several times as it grows. Some species of butterflies are super picky eaters as caterpillars, like the Monarch butterfly, which will ONLY eat milkweed.
Monarchs might be picky eaters when they’re caterpillars, but they make up for it by being such wonderful and beautiful animals!
The last time it sheds its skin, it suspends itself in a sheltered place with some silken threads and forms a hard oval-like case called a pupa or chrysalis.
The pupa or chrysalis stage of metamorphosis.
Several days (or weeks or years) later a fully winged butterfly emerges from the pupa and the cycle begins anew. Pretty cool!
Other Cool Butterfly Facts
How many lenses does a butterfly eye have? 6,000! Ok, so who counted them and how?
- How fast do they fly? Butterflies have been clocked as fast as 12 miles an hour and as high as 11,000 feet.
- They taste with their feet, all 6 of them (you normally only see 4 legs since the front 2 are curled up under the butterfly).
- The longest daily flight recorded by a butterfly is 265 miles, helped most likely by strong winds.
- A group of butterflies is a flutter and a group congregating in a muddy place is called puddling.
- Butterflies do not like to fly at night as they might be eaten by a bat or predator bird. Sounds like a good strategy.
- A person that studies butterflies is called a lepidopterist. Try pronouncing that one! (Hint: leh·puh·daap·tr·uhst)
Butterflies as Pollinators
Butterflies help pollinate many wildflowers as they move from flower to flower. After bees, they are one of the most beneficial pollinators. And they can travel farther than most bees, pollinating a larger area of plants.
If you are curious about what other animals are pollinators, check out our blog Amazing Pollinators in the Garden. You might be surprised to learn lizards are just one of the many cool and unexpected pollinators helping our plants.
Should You Raise Commercial Butterflies To Release Into The Wild?
Even though you may be trying to help wild butterflies, unless you are part of an organized conservation effort to rebuild wild populations of specific butterflies, raising or releasing butterflies into the wild can do way more damage than good.
Reasons not to release just any butterfly into the wild:
- Disease from the raised butterflies can be spread to the wild population.
- The butterflies released can die quickly from lack of the right nectar sources or adverse weather conditions.
- It confuses scientific studies of butterfly migrations and can confuse wild butterflies as they fly by.
- Butterflies are now being poached from the wild for profit.
- Butterflies raised in California don’t know how to migrate when released in say, North Carolina.
Raising Native Local Butterflies!
The Xerces Society recommends if teachers are going to use butterflies or caterpillars for educational purposes to only use ones locally netted or reared.
In the fall of 2024, we had the opportunity to lead multiple classes in our Wild for Monarchs program where we raised locally reared monarch caterpillars in classrooms. A local conservation farmer helped by providing us with native caterpillars, and native milkweed to feed them. These monarchs were released into the wild where they were born, an important step in this process. Students got the opportunity to learn and care for them through their entire life cycle and release butterflies to help support the local population (sourced by the local population) before migration!
Along with helping to raise the local butterflies, the students had the opportunity to complete a wonderful art project as part of our program which exchanges art with schools in Mexico, where the Monarch butterflies migrate! Read about the project here. Really cool stuff!
Butterflies Are In Trouble. How Can You Help?
- Plant native flowering plants including bushes, wildflowers, grasses & trees.
- For monarchs, plant native milkweed which is the only plant on which a monarch will lay its eggs.
- Avoid the use of pesticides in your garden or yard as they can kill both caterpillars & butterflies.
- Provide water and cover along with nectar.
- Become a citizen scientist and report your sightings of butterflies. It is loads of fun and very rewarding. We signed up for Journey North to report our monarch butterfly sightings. It is easy & free & helps scientists learn more about their behavior.
- To learn more butterfly facts and help protect them, join organizations that help protect butterflies like the Xerces Society!
- Spread the love for butterflies! You can always create art showcasing how wonderful they are, or simply share the fun facts you now know!
