Why are butterfly wings different colors? Where do they sleep at night? Learn all about butterflies with these interesting butterfly facts.
18 Fascinating Butterfly Facts You Didn’t Know
![Photo,of,a,beautiful,orange,julia,butterfly.,it,is,perched](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/shutterstock_2316315559-e1722358063758.jpg?fit=700%2C463)
Diet Provides Protection From Predators
Not only does the amount that caterpillars eat influence the age they live to as adults, but what they consume also determines how likely they are to be eaten by predators. Julia heliconians are among the most unpalatable butterflies to birds because they feed on passionflower vines, which contain trace levels of cyanide. When you’re done reading butterfly facts, take a look at the amazing kinds of butterflies worth knowing.
![277518081 1 Alan Belongia Bnb Bypc 2021](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/277518081_1_Alan_Belongia_BNB_BYPC_2021.jpg?fit=700%2C467)
Why Are a Butterfly’s Wings Similar to Golf Balls?
Butterfly wings are covered in microscopic ridges and valleys formed by shingle-like layers of scales. As with golf balls, this dimpling increases aerodynamic efficiency and enables butterflies to fly farther.
![zebra longwing butterfly](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/250872805_1_Carol_Neel_BNB_BYPC2020.jpg?fit=700%2C525)
Butterfly Eyes Have Special Adaptations
Longwing butterflies have many look-alikes and have developed advanced color-sensitive eyes to better tell their mates apart from other species. This advanced sight may also be responsible for their preference for flowers with the same color as their wings, which act as form of camouflage when feeding, according to one study.
![Gulf Fritillary Butterfly, butterfly facts](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-140917666-scaled-e1722358234563.jpg?fit=700%2C918)
Butterflies Have a Unique Flirting Technique
To better impress females with his pheromones, the male Gulf fritillary flaps his wings directly over her antennae. In order to deal with this perfumed assault, she’s developed additional pheromone openings to help her find the best mate.
![Mourning,cloak,(nymphalis,antiopa),butterfly,resting,on,a,tree,stump](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/shutterstock_2296324881-e1722358127846.jpg?fit=700%2C564)
Butterflies ‘Play Possum,’ Too
Camouflage is the first line of defense for mourning cloaks, but when it fails, they will play dead as a last resort. How long each individual stays catatonic varies and is likely linked to genetics.
![250939842 1 Richard Schnuerer Bnb Bypc2020](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/250939842_1_Richard_Schnuerer_BNB_BYPC2020.jpg?fit=700%2C1024)
Some Butterflies Soar Through the Skies
Like birds, insects fly by either flapping their wings or using air currents to glide through the sky. Many thought monarchs were the only butterflies capable of soaring flight until 1979, when mourning cloaks were spotted doing the same thing.
![Zebra Longwing Butterflies Cluster Together To Form A Roost Or Bivouac.](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1095609130-scaled-e1722358211181.jpg?fit=700%2C871)
Butterflies Roost in Groups at Night
Zebra heliconians sleep together each night in formations known as roosts. Clustering like this shows off their warning coloration, making any would-be predator think twice about attacking. Young butterflies often change which branch they perch upon, but older ones have a specific spot they like to come back to each evening.
![276833190 1 Christine Loranty Bnb Bypc 2021](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/276833190_1_Christine_Loranty_BNB_BYPC_2021-e1722358166237.jpg?fit=700%2C474)
Flowers Aren’t Always a Butterfly’s Favorite Food
Question marks are among the few butterflies that rarely visit flowers, instead preferring rotting fruit, dung or even carrion. Their irregular wing margins help them mimic leaves, making them hard to spot among foliage.
![swallowtail host plants](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/252807168_1_C._Denise_Maples_BNB_BYPC2020.jpg?fit=700%2C465)
What Did Ancient Caterpillars Eat?
This one of our butterfly facts will impress history buffs. The very first caterpillars are thought to have eaten plants closely related to modern-day legumes and beans.
![Bnbugc Laurie Stuchlik Grpurphairstreak, butterfly facts](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/BNBugc_laurie-stuchlik-grpurphairstreak-e1722358106545.jpg?fit=700%2C458)
Small Butterflies Go High to Find Mates
Finding mates is challenging when you’re tiny, so many butterflies, including great purple hairstreaks, use landmarks, such as hilltops or tall trees, to find each other. This behavior is called hilltopping.
![361838589 1 Stephanie Schmidt Bnb Pc 2023](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/361838589_1_stephanie_schmidt_BNB_PC_2023-e1722449061239.jpeg?fit=700%2C520)
Are Male Butterflies Territorial?
Male butterflies defend their mating territories by either chasing off or fighting interlopers. Great purple hairstreak fights can be aerial spectacles: Fighters quickly spiral up into the sky, beating their wings against each other until one of them tires.
![malachite butterfly](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/353776320_1_Melissa_Lee_BNB_PC_2023-e1722358188704.jpg?fit=700%2C768)
Malachite Butterfly Color Facts
Brilliant colors and iridescent patches on butterfly wings usually come from their delicate scales. However, some butterflies, such as malachites, are unique: While their wing tips are covered in black scales, their iconic green coloring is instead made of cells in their wing membranes filled with a pigmented liquid containing blood and other compounds.
![coneflower monarch butterfly](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/250208000_1_Cortney_Isetts_BNB_BYPC2020.jpg?fit=700%2C467)
When Is the Best Time to Spot a Butterfly?
Bright, sunny days are the best times to spot butterflies in flight. To get off the ground, they need to have a body temperature between 68 and 122 degrees.
![306692121 1 Laurie Painter Bnb Pc 2022, butterfly facts](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/306692121_1_Laurie_Painter_BNB_PC_2022-scaled-e1722358260612.jpg?fit=700%2C571)
Wing Markings Change With Seasons
Some butterfly facts are surprising! Dark patches on the wings of sulphur and cabbage butterflies help them warm up on chilly mornings. Most markings gradually fade as the growing season progresses.
![352645240 1 Craig Thiessen Bnb Pc 2023, butterfly facts](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/352645240_1_Craig_Thiessen_BNB_PC_2023-scaled-e1722358285353.jpg?fit=700%2C463)
Butterflies and Ants Are Unlikely Allies
The caterpillars of over 200 species of blue butterflies have direct links with ants. Silvery blue larvae provide sugary rewards, known as honeydew, to ants that guard them from wasp attacks. It is secreted from a gland in their abdomens, and the amount they pay up usually depends on the ant species.
![A viceroy butterfly peeks from behind a leaf.](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Viceroy-butterfly-from-below-scaled.jpg?fit=700%2C525)
Tricky Monarch Butterfly Mimics
Viceroys are masters of mimicry—their wide habitat range overlaps with both the monarch and the queen butterflies. Though not as toxic themselves, viceroys resemble these unappetizing cousins to better trick birds. In southern areas where queens are more common than monarchs, the viceroys are darker to mimic the queens more closely.
![310024957 1 Meagan Brown Bnb Pc 2022, butterfly facts](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/310024957_1_Meagan_Brown_BNB_PC_2022-scaled-e1722358308852.jpg?fit=700%2C458)
Butterflies Need More Than Sugar
Sipping sugar isn’t a complete diet, even for bugs. Many butterflies gather at mud puddles to supplement their nutrition with salts and minerals.
![353706685 1 Roger Swieringa Bnb Pc 2023](https://www.birdsandblooms.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/353706685_1_Roger_Swieringa_BNB_PC_2023-e1722358146956.jpg?fit=700%2C383)
Native Plants Are Best for Butterflies
Native plants provide prime real estate for butterflies. Big bushy plants and trees attract the most pollinators, especially in neighborhoods that have gone lawn-free.