·
Butterflies belong to the Lepidoptera
class of insects which are characterized by their large scaly wings.
·
The Cabbage White specie of butterfly
is the most commonly found in the US. While they are called Cabbage White, they
are characterized by their two black markings at the top of their wings.
·
Monarch butterflies migrate to escape
from the cold, not to procreate contrarily to popular belief.
·
Monarch butterflies are the only
insect in the whole world that travels over 2,500 miles on average every
winter.
·
However, while the Monarch is the
only butterfly to cover this wide a distance, many butterfly species flee
weather conditions in the winter, such as the Clouded Skipper, Red Admiral,
Cloudless Sulfur and American Lady just to name a few.
·
The North American Monarch is one of
the species that has been the most severely impacted by recent climate changes,
with their numbers seeing dips and spikes over the last few years.
·
Butterflies don’t taste with taste
buds, but rather sensors located under their feet.
·
A group of butterflies is known as a
flutter.
·
Butterflies can see beyond the
ultraviolet spectrum and their eyes consist of a network of 6000 lenses.
·
Did you know that many adult
butterflies do not excrete waste at all? As a matter of fact, many adult
butterflies use everything they eat as energy.
·
Contrarily to popular perception, the
wings of butterflies are totally clear and the colors we see are the effect of
light reflecting on the tiny scales covering them.
·
The wings of butterflies move in a
figure 8 motion.
·
Butterflies can vary greatly in size.
The biggest butterfly specie has a 12 inch wingspan, while the smallest ever
recorded only covers half an inch.
·
Some butterflies can be very picky
about where they lay their eggs. As a matter of fact, some butterflies
will only lay their eggs in one type of plant.
·
The first thing a caterpillar eats
after it hatches from its cocoon is usually the shell of the cocoon itself.
·
In some places, you can find so many
caterpillars feeding on plants that you can actually hear them munching.
·
The time it takes a caterpillar to
evolve into a butterfly is usually between 10 and 15 days depending on the
particular specie.
·
Butterflies are cold blooded
creatures for the most part.
·
Some butterfly species are extremely
fast. As a matter of fact, the Skipper Butterfly can fly faster than a horse can run.
·
Butterflies have long tongues that
are shaped like tubes that gives them the ability to soak up food instead of
sipping it.
·
Male butterflies engage in what is
called “puddling”. In fact, many male butterflies get nourishment by drinking
water from mud puddles, which allows them to extract much needed minerals.
·
A group of butterflies puddling
together is referred to as a “puddle club”.
·
Some species of butterflies drink
blood coming from open wounds of other animals.
·
Many scientists thought butterflies
were completely dead until they first identified butterfly ears in 2012.
·
The Common Buckeye Butterfly is
considered as one of the most striking species of butterflies with its wide
upper wing bars and big, multicolored eyespots.
·
The Giant Swallowtail Butterfly is
one of the biggest butterfly species on the planet, with wings spanning from 4
to 7 inches.
·
The adult butterfly only lives 3 to 4
weeks in average.
·
Many butterfly species are
polymorphic and have the ability to blend in with their surrounding
environment.
Butterflies cannot fly if the air temperature falls under 55 degrees
Fahrenheit. Since butterflies are cold blooded animals, they can regulate their
body temperature, which renders them completely immobile in cold weather.