Butterflies are often considered beautiful insects. Butterflies come in all shapes, colors and sizes (approximately 17,500 species), each with its own lifestyle and unique characteristics. Here are some interesting things that have been discovered about butterflies over the years.
1. Butterflies Can See Colors That Human Eyes Can’t
Butterflies have very different vision than humans. Their vision allows them to distinguish between ultraviolet and polarized light, which the human eye cannot. Interestingly, just because they can see light and colors that the human eye can’t, doesn’t mean they have better vision than humans. It just means that their eyes function differently. For example, while they can recognize colors that the human eye can’t see at all, they’re not very good at recognizing patterns from a distance — they’re nearsighted.
However, one of the advantages of butterflies being able to see UV light is that they can find each other to mate with, since many of them have UV-colored wings.
2. Butterflies have four wings instead of two
Contrary to what you might see in sketches, paintings, or even butterflies in flight, they don’t have two wings, but four. They have a pair of forewings on the front and two hind wings on the back. When they are in flight, all four wings move up and down in a figure-of-eight pattern.
3. Butterflies can’t fly when it’s cold
Butterflies are cold-blooded, meaning they have no internal heat regulation and instead get their heat from external sources like the sun. To be able to fly, a butterfly needs a body temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius). This means that when the weather gets too cold (below 55 degrees Fahrenheit), they cannot fly and are forced to cease activity.
4. Butterfly wings are transparent
This seems impossible because every time a butterfly flies by or lands near us, we seem to be able to see their usually very brightly colored wings. In fact, however, butterfly wings are composed of layers of a polysaccharide called chitin. These layers are so thin that you can see right through them. However, a butterfly’s wings are covered with thousands of scales that reflect different colors of light. This explains the colors we see when we see butterflies.
5. The world’s largest butterfly is an endangered species
The largest butterfly in the world is the Queen Alexandra’s swallowtail. The largest of the species are the females, who can have a wingspan of up to 11 inches, making them 10 times larger than the average butterfly. Males are slightly smaller, 6.7 to 7.4 inches (17 to 19 cm). Like many butterfly species, this one is so graceful it’s no wonder it’s named after the royal family of Queen Alexandra, the Danish wife of King Edward VII of England.
However, due to volcanic eruptions in the 1950s and continued deforestation of the butterfly’s habitat, it has been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
6. Butterflies don’t live long
The average lifespan of an adult butterfly is two weeks. During that short amount of time, butterflies focus on two activities, feeding and mating. However, as with almost anything, there are exceptions. Some butterflies only live for a few days. Examples include Coppers and Small Blues. Also, some butterflies live up to 8 months. These butterflies are usually migratory butterflies, which migrate to more tropical regions. An example is the North American Monarch.
7. butterflies taste with their feet
For you, this might be the most unusual fact about butterflies. From the butterfly’s point of view, though, it’s not so far-fetched. Butterflies have taste receptors on their feet, so when they land on a surface, they can tell if it’s food. For feeding their caterpillars, this attribute is especially useful, as it allows them to recognize whether a plant is suitable for feeding. So, the next time a butterfly lands on you, it’s likely just trying to see if you’re food.
8. Butterflies live strictly on a liquid diet
Butterflies have no oral organs that allow them to chew or bite. Instead, they have a proboscis like a straw. Therefore, they have to sip or suck all their food, most of which is nectar. Some butterflies feed on sap and others suck on carrion, but regardless of the source of food, butterflies must ingest it in liquid form.
9. To avoid predators, butterflies perform several tricks with their wings
Butterflies are on the low end, and many predators are willing and able to eat them at will. Therefore, butterflies use their wings in a variety of ways to deter and avoid predators. One way to stand out is by folding their wings and blending into the environment so they can’t be seen. Another trick, the exact opposite of the other, is to display their full color to deter predators. Brightly colored insects are often poisonous, so predators wonder whether they will eat them when they are in full color.
10. Butterflies include mud pits in their diet plans
Butterflies are often seen drinking from mud pits, which are essential for their mineral acquisition. Nectar is all well and good, but butterflies cannot get certain minerals from nectar. So butterflies, especially males, sip from mud pits to get these minerals. The practice of sipping from puddles of mud is known as puddling.
Male butterflies are finicky about watering holes because the minerals they acquire are incorporated into their sperm and transferred to females during mating. The minerals in turn make the eggs more alive.
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.
