Butterfly Lessons

Butterflies are some of the most delicate yet durable creatures. They are truly amazing with what all they can do, surviving as a species for ten times longer than man while individuals usually may live as an adult only a few days. On many parts of the planet, they are the original pollinators! We need to take time to ponder the butterfly!

Butterflies have been on the planet for over 70 million years and are found on every single continent except Antarctica, and they even were there before it became covered in ice. Most butterflies weigh less than a gram, feed on nectar, yet can travel in some cases over water thousands of miles with no food. How do they do they do it? No one really knows for sure!

In the Caribbean alone there are several hundred types of butterflies, some are restricted to small islands. Why are they restricted? Because most butterflies are limited to very specific types of plants, without that plant they will die. Is there any evolutionary advantage? Not really, but it happened and the reasons for it happening are merely speculation.

The majestic Monarch Butterfly feeds on members of the milkweed family, storing toxins that protect it from birds. Those toxins also trigger reproduction, so without the toxins there are no eggs and no more Monarchs. So did the need for the toxins evolve as a form of protection or from the need for reproduction? This is a tricky question for evolution!

Let's ponder butterfly migrations. Following food would seem normal, most animals do that, but many butterflies fly over the seas from island to island. They have no water, no food, and often no land in sight, so can't even rest. They fly for days on end at 4 to 6 feet about the sea until they reach their goal. How do they know where to go?

Butterflies can't pass on flight details to their offspring, they die shortly after laying their eggs so never see the caterpillars (That knocks out telepathy)! Average butterfly is only 22 days and the migrations only occur during the spring and fall. It is not the same Monarch that returns for the winter in Mexico that left the previous spring. How do they know?

Can people learn from the little butterflies of the world? How to coast along through life spreading beauty? How to rely that everything will work out if you just follow your instincts and have patience, even with a short lifetime? We can only hope!