With summer on its way we're soaking up the sun that is finally in our skies! And we're not alone, with the warm weather comes other animals and insects looking to sunbathe too - including butterflies!

As we've been spending time outside, we've been seeing more of these beautiful creatures fluttering around flowers and landing on our placemats (see below!) which got us thinking, how much do we know about butterflies?

And with National Children's Gardening Week happening soon, we thought it would be a good idea to get in the gardening-mood, get outside and some fun facts about these pretty pollinators!

Butterflies are (almost) everywhere!

Butterflies can be found across every continent of the world, except Antarctica, with an estimated 20,000 different species! Whether they're fans of tropical rainforests, like the Papilio Ulysses, or prefer warm grasslands like the Adonis Blue, you can find butterflies in many different habitats.

In the UK, there are around 59 different species of butterfly with 57 resident, (meaning they live here year round) and two regular migrants - the Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow. And with plenty of different species to look out for, going 'butterfly spotting' can be a great fun activity for summer!

Why not head outside and see what butterflies you can spot near you? There are lots of handy identification guides available, like this one from Butterfly Conservation. Take a look at the size, shapes, and colours of the different butterflies you find, and see if you can identify their names!

 

 

They are masters at camouflage

From bright blue with round wings, to dark brown with 'tails', butterflies exhibit a stunning array of shapes, sizes, patterns, and colours! While some, such as the Monarch butterfly, use bright colours to scare predators away (bright coloured insects are usually not very tasty, or even toxic!), others adopt a contrasting tactic - camouflage! These clever critters use colours and patterns to either blend in with their surroundings or mimic entirely different objects. Take for instance, the underside of the Question Mark butterfly's wings, which are brown and papery looking. When they fold their wings, they resemble crumpled, lifeless leaves—a perfect disguise for blending into the woodland environments they call home!

Another example is the Peacock butterfly. This beautiful bug is a dark brown with its wings closed to blend into its surroundings, however, if predators get close, they open their wings and use their bright colours and pattern to startle away any enemies!

 

They taste with their feet!

Did you know butterflies have a very clever way of finding food and deciding if something is tasty enough to eat?

When a butterfly lands on a tasty treat like a piece of fruit or a flower, it doesn't use its mouth to taste it. Instead, it uses its super-sensitive feet to detect sugars. These tiny taste receptors, called chemoreceptors, help the butterfly decide if the plant they are on has food for them. So next time you see a butterfly delicately perched on a flower, remember, it's might not just be resting - it's also deciding if it would like a snack!

Plus, if the butterfly is happy that they are on a suitable plant for young caterpillars to munch on, they will lay their eggs there too!

 

Butterflies can have very interesting food preferences

You probably already know that butterflies love to drink nectar from flowers, but did you know that butterflies do so with a super long tongue? This long tube is called a proboscis and acts like a bendy straw that they can use to slurp up their food! It is because of this straw-like tongue that butterflies mainly stick to drinking liquids. Sometimes, nectar is hidden deep inside the flower and is tricky to reach, but their long proboscis helps butterflies to sip on nectar with ease!

But some butterflies have some unique food preferences in addition to nectar...

Sometimes you can see butterflies, usually males, sipping from puddles, damp rocks, sweat, faeces, and even tears - for example, the Eighty-Eight butterfly loves to eat dung! They don't do this for fun, instead, these butterflies are collecting minerals and salt that they can't get from nectar. Male butterflies will then pass these minerals onto female butterflies to help make their eggs strong and healthy!

 

They breathe through their abdomen!

Like most insects, butterflies don't use their 'mouths' to breathe. Instead, butterflies breathe through holes on the sides of their abdomen, called 'spiracles'. These spiracles lead to a network of 'tubes' known as tracheae which bring oxygen directly to the inner structures of the butterfly. This network looks similar to the bronchi in human lungs!

Also, butterflies, like other insects, don't have blood! Instead, they have a clear liquid called haemolymph which fills their body cavity and carries oxygen.

 

They can't fly if they're too cold

Butterflies need to be warm to be able to fly and prefer to be in toastier temperatures, at least 12°C! Since they're cold-blooded critters, they can't make heat themselves like we can, so they rely on the weather outside need their surroundings to be just right to take off into the skies. On cooler days, they need to do a little warm-up - like shivering or a nice sunbathe - to get their flight muscles ready for action!

The Leopard Lacewing butterflies, found across India and China, can be commonly found basking in sunlight with their wings open to recharge!

 

They are a gardener's best friend!

Did you know that butterflies are nature's very own superheroes for your garden? These colourful creatures aren't just pretty to look at – they're also fantastic pollinators!

When you think of pollinators, bees are probably the first insect that comes to mind, but butterflies are experts at pollination too! Flowers provide nectar to insects like butterflies in exchange for their help - as they flutter from flower to flower searching and sipping on nectar, butterflies pick up pollen on their feet and spread this to other plants.

Without butterflies helping to pollinate, lots of our favourite flowers wouldn't be able to make the seeds they need to grow again. So, next time you spot a butterfly in your garden, give them a big thank you for being your garden's best friend!

 

You can help them!

No matter the size, butterflies will visit any garden or green space with flowers that look tasty. And, since pollinators are so important to our biodiversity and ecosystem, it is always a good idea to help them out where we can!

Butterflies need nectar for energy to survive and mate, so planting some of their favourite flowers is a great way to lend them a helping hand!

Butterfly Conservation share lots of incredible information about butterflies - here are some of their tips for how to attract butterflies to your garden:

- Plant butterfly friendly flowers throughout the butterfly season. Spring flowers are vital for butterflies coming out of hibernation and autumn flowers help butterflies build up their reserves for winter.

- Try to choose different plants to attract a wider variety of species and place the same types of plant together in blocks. You can plant lots of flowers, or even a few in a pot if you don't have much space!

- Butterflies like warmth, so choose sunny, sheltered spots when planting nectar plants

- Avoid using insecticides and pesticides - these harm butterflies and many beneficial pollinating insects as well as ladybirds, ground beetles and spiders.

 

Top gifts for butterfly lovers!

If our fun facts have got you in the mood for more butterfly activities, our range of colour in butterfly gifts feature lots of beautiful butterflies from around the world! Whether you're dreaming of springtime with our butterfly pillowcase or heading out to see what you can spot with our butterfly placemat to go, there is something for everyone!

We’ve loved learning about and sharing some fun facts about butterflies with you. We hope you found them interesting, and maybe learnt a thing or two as well!

Don’t forget you can get in touch with us on social media and share your colouring creations by using #eatsleepdoodle – we always love to see what you’re up to! You can also tag us on Instagram (@eatsleepdoodle_), Facebook (@eatsleepdoodlehq) and TikTok (@eatsleepdoodle_).