Butterflies From Around the World

I wanted to share some pictures from some butterfly houses and gardens that I have been going to over the last several years. These butterflies are amazing to observe as they are from all over the world. They are not in my own "neck of the woods" where I would usually get to observe them in their natural habitat. They import them to places like butterfly houses and gardens while still in their cocoons. Then they hatch out and are let loose into an environment that literally mimics their normal habitats. When you walk through and feel the heat and humidity, there is no denying you feel like you are in a different place!

The coloring of these butterflies likely will knock you out, as they did me. They are just so amazing and beautiful. I hope you enjoy getting to see here, what I was able to learn and observe during some of my visits to butterfly houses. Maybe you will learn something new that you didn't know before. For me, this helped me to appreciate these lovely creatures all the more.

Did you know that most of these butterflies, once having emerged from their cocoons, live only about 2 weeks? I was amazed to know this, and it made me enjoy and appreciate them and their beauty all the more. Some live a little longer, but not too much. I have seen some, that by the end of their life, have pretty beat up wings at the tips, but they are still beautiful.

Did you know, that you shouldn't ever touch a butterflies wings, because you can rub off their coloring by accident? Even little amounts of handling can hurt and threaten them. They rely on the many very tiny scales, like tiles on a roof, that help make up their coloring. This is also part of their defense mechanism in fighting off would be predators. They also rely on their coloring to recognize and find another mate. So its critical for their reproduction. So enjoy them with your eyes, and at most you can let them land on you which people often enjoy. You can change their whole life by rubbing off the color scales.

Butterflies need the temperature of the air around them to be fairly warm, so their blood and fluids can get pumping enough through their bodies to help them fly. They don't like gusty winds or strong breezes. They like certain kinds of nectar from flowers, and some really love rotting fruit. As gross as this sounds, it's a real treat to some of them. It would be what you might find in a warm humid environment where ripened fruits fell on the ground from the trees. To mimic this, many butterfly house workers or volunteers, cut in half certain very ripe fruits and set them about, hanging on plates. The butterflies love it!

Sometimes, the design on a butterfly can help it to blend in with its surroundings for protection. The colors on the outsides of their wings, or the side you see when the butterfly has its wings together, are more dull and drab than the inside colors. I show one butterfly, that mimics a dead leaf, so that when it senses a predator, it can simply close its wings and be safe. When it needs to find a mate, the inside colors help to attract them to one another. Also, you can sometimes see patterns on a butterfly that mimic a much larger animals eyeballs, if you can believe this! This can scare off a much bigger bird for instance, that could otherwise make the butterfly his lunch!

A surprising side note that I discovered, is that you can see many amazing flowers so often in a butterfly house or garden. These alone were a joy to behold. It makes sense to plant tropical plants and flowers in these places as they can thrive in the heat, sunshine and humidity. Combine those with the butterflies though, and you have a true feast for the eyes. Its wonderful to enjoy natures most beautiful things. It is an unexpected treat in butterfly conservatories everywhere.

To me, butterflies are like flying flowers, and the more you see them, the more you will see why I think so. If you can ever go to a butterfly house or garden, take the time to, you won't regret it.