Why do we not see what the butterfly sees?
September 20, 20242 Mins Read
Butterflies are one of nature's most amazing and beautiful creatures. There are about 180 thousand species of butterflies in the world. They are more or less found in 6 other continents except Antarctica. Let's find out some interesting facts about this wonderful animal.

butterfly

Butterflies cannot fly in extreme cold

Butterflies need a body temperature of 82-100 degrees Fahrenheit to fly comfortably. That is, they can fly well at a temperature of 27-37 degrees Celsius. But if the temperature drops below 12 degrees Celsius or 55 degrees Fahrenheit, they can no longer fly. Because, butterflies are cold-blooded animals. That is, there is no system to retain the heat required by the body through the production of heat inside their body. So on a winter morning you might see a butterfly basking in the sun, its wings fluttering. In this way butterflies try to warm their body.

Butterfly lives only 1 month

The 4 stages of a butterfly's life. Eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. A butterfly lives a maximum of one month after emerging from the pupa. But not all butterflies live that long. Some died in just 14 days. Some tiny blue butterflies live only a few hours. But there are exceptions. A species of butterfly known as the Painted Lady is found in the UK. They live up to 9 months. But usually their lifespan is only 2-4 weeks. During this short period of life they only seek food and try to produce more butterflies, i.e. give birth.

What butterflies see, we do not see

Butterflies usually look best on flowers or other objects within 10-12 feet. They use ultraviolet light to find mates and the right flowers. We cannot see these UV rays with the naked eye. Basically butterfly eyes have 6 or more color photoreceptors or photosensitive nerves. These include ultraviolet, violet, blue, green and red. Just as the human retina has rod cells with some blue, green and red cells, butterflies have photoreceptors of six or more of these colors.

Butterflies only drink liquid!

Adult butterflies can only drink liquids. More specifically, they only drink flower nectar. Because the mouth of a butterfly is such that there is no way to chew without drinking. But there are exceptions. Only 1% of the world's butterflies occasionally eat meat. Heliconius charithonia ( Heliconius charithonia ) butterflies often kill and eat caterpillars. When the caterpillar matures, it transforms into a butterfly.