Nature's Effect: Butterfly Lessons

A Common Buckeye alights on yellow lantana

​I was blessed this week to go from seeing the beautiful butterflies in my own backyard to those on the East Coast.  Aside from the butterflies in the backyard of the home where I was staying, New Quarter Park in Williamsburg, Virginia has planted a very large butterfly field – including over 130 milkweed plants upon which Monarchs rely. It was here that I found myself surrounded by butterflies and dragonflies.

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What the butterflies taught me this week:

• Think you have the perfect angle for our photo? We’ll show you another;
• Just when you think you’ve seen the prettiest part of us, you'll see even more;
• Yes, there can be over 30 varieties of us in just one yard or local area;
• We truly do come in all shapes, sizes, and colors;
• Look out! We may be on the ground – or anywhere (mating);
• Yes, it takes us (Monarchs) quite a while to mate;
• Even the largest Swallowtails can be caught and consumed by a (very large) spider;
• We can still get around with missing parts of our wings;
• If you think you see many of us, just wait until it gets warmer in the day!
• Some of us look very similar - check the patterns closely if you want accurate identification;
• As amazing as it seems, we can and do survive very bad storms and emerge the next day as if nothing happened.

A female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail shows off the equally gorgeous black version of their patterns

A tiny Fiery Skipper butterfly on Butterfly bush.

​If it’s still spring or summer where you are, you might consider wandering out to see how many butterfly varieties you can find.  What do you see? How many patterns can you find on their wings? Don’t forget about the patterns on their bodies. Are their antennae different colors from their bodies and wings? What colors are their eyes? What else might you learn from and about them?  If it’s fall or winter where you are, don’t despair! You might use this time to start planning how you could attract these gorgeous and welcome distractions to your surrounds in the spring.  

​If you want to learn more about which butterflies you're seeing in your own yard or park, you can visit Butterflies and Moths of North America. Happy butterfly dreams ….

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A large but fast Zebra Swallowtail lands momentarily on Butterfly bush