If you have never seen or even heard of a butterfly let me educate you. Butterflies are flying insects that have small bodies along with large, beautiful wings with different pattern colors. Monarch butterflies normally live up to 2 to 6 weeks and they typically live in Central America, South America, Africa, Southern Asia, and Australia. In some cases, gardeners often plant special kinds of flowers to attract the flying creatures.

The butterfly as a symbol means transformation, comfort, hope, rebirth, bravery, and positivity. Some past ancestors communicated through them while other people took the existence of butterflies as a hopeful mark in the world. In Western culture, Butterflies are known to symbolize lightness and love, making them one-of-a-kind creatures.

 An amazing fact about butterflies is they use their feet to taste Because most of their taste buds are located on their feet. Butterflies mostly eat flower nectar, but they also eat honeydew, sugar water, tree sap, and organic matter they received from other animals.

Currently, Monarch butterflies are on a candidate waiting list for the Endangered Species Act Protection. Butterflies are dealing with a lot of threats including habitat loss, climate change, and more harmful things killing off these beautiful creatures. Another problem butterflies are facing is the deforestation of freezing cold wintering forests in the country of Mexico, disturbances to their migration affected by the terrible impacts of climate change, and the loss of native plants. These events have a key part in butterflies becoming extinct and it’s very sad seeing these creatures almost leaving this world forever.  

Butterflies are so important to this world because they’re a key element of the food chain and are prey for animals such as birds, bats, and other insectivorous animals.

Butterflies also pollinate over 75% of Earth’s flowering plants and it helps out humans because when they feed on the delicious nectar or when their bodies collect a lot of pollen they carry it to the other leafy plants and help with fruits, vegetables, and other flowers make new seeds.

If these beautiful flying creatures are all gone many plant species wouldn’t be able to procreate and their populations would drop dramatically. Author Erika Buenaflor said in her book Animal Medicine that “Butterflies shows us to flow through our transformation with confidence.” We all must appreciate the hard work these animals do to help this world the best way they know how to.