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According to the Smithsonian Institution in the United States, there are about 17,500 species butterflies in today’s world. These species inhabit every continent except Antarctica where conditions prove too cold for these delicate creatures. About 750 species live in the United States alone.
With so many butterflies in the world, you would think they are working together to increase their chances of survival. this is what migratory birds to do. Butterflies are more solitary than birds. The beautifully colorful spectrum of butterfly species usually live and migrate alone, except when they gather in groups for food, water, and minerals. Some, like the monarch butterfly, also come together for stopovers in their migrations. After that, they only fly on to cover the distance.
Of course, male and female butterflies also perish together reproduce sexually. They find each other through the colorful displays of their wings and communicate their intent to mate through pheromones.
What is a group of butterflies called?
There are several collective nouns for a group of butterflies. The first collective noun is ‘kaleidoscope’. This is perhaps the most interesting name for the group. It comes from the beautiful array of colors and patterns that create many fluttering wings. This group name comes from the kaleidoscope, an optical instrument that uses mirrors to create a beautiful colorful display. Likewise, butterflies’ wings have thousands of reflective colorful scales, so this name makes sense!
Another collective noun for a group of butterflies is flutter. It is easy to imagine that this descriptive name relates to the fluttering of wings within the group. Other names are flight, swarm, army, wing, rabble, herd, roost and bivouac.
A bivouac is a temporary camp set up by soldiers. This name is well suited to the congregation of many butterflies on a tree or other objects, as they rest together during individual migration. In fact, the same group of butterflies during one migration period can be described as a kaleidoscope in flight and a bivouac at rest. You can also say they are a swarm when they find a pool of water and many gather for a drink.
Many who sit quietly together sleep in the same place as a tree branch or on a fence post, usually for nighttime rest. Butterflies only fly during the day and rest in the dark with wings closed, meaning they are folded upwards. They also roost when they are cold. Their wings don’t work at low temperatures. So they sit quietly in a safe landing site, sometimes in a group of butterflies, with wings open to draw in the heat of the sun and warm their bodies until they can fly again.
Why do butterflies form a group?
Butterfly groups are less common than solitary butterflies, mainly because some butterfly species only live for a few days. They usually only group together for food, hydration, migratory rest or to absorb important minerals that they do not get from their bodies favorite meal, nectar. Occasionally in the wild you will see two making love butterflies fluttering together or even mating. During this courtship, the pair flutters in the air to show each other that they are healthy and ready to mate. But their union is short-lived and they don’t linger in a pairing.
Seeing a group of butterflies is a striking and awe-inspiring experience! They are usually seen together on a tree or other object where they rest during migration, such as from Mexico to the United States or Canada. Or maybe they’ve found a soothing pool of water that many can drink at once, just as the American snout butterflies often do when migrating from drought areas.
Sometimes it is possible to see several butterflies feeding on the same rotting fruit, the same pile of animal dung or a rotting carcass. They group for these feedings because they need sodium and other nutrients that they cannot get from the nectar of a beautiful flower.
It is also possible to see many butterflies in one field or garden. However, these do not work together in a group. Instead, they are probably individually attracted to a ‘super bloom’, the time when many flowers bloom and provide lots of sweet nectar. A prime example of a super bloom is the annual event of migrating painted lady butterflies benefiting from California fields of wildflowers on their flight from Mexico.
How to attract groups of butterflies
Anyone with a little space in their yard or yard can grow a butterfly paradise. By planting flowers that butterflies feed on, it is possible to attract groups of them. Of course, the butterflies appear singly, flying only from flower to flower. But with sweet-tasting nectar available, a small garden can attract many butterflies every day during peak season.
One of the best flowering plants that attract butterflies Involving:
- butterfly bush
- Lantana
- Lavender
- Sun hat
- Marigold in pot
- Susan with black eyes
How to attract groups of caterpillars
A home garden can also attract butterflies especially for egg-laying and caterpillar growing purposes. In other words, you can create a safe place for butterflies to go through their entirety life cycle, from egg to larva, then pupa to beautifully winged butterfly!
Groups of caterpillars hatch and feed on specific plants where their female parent lives lays her eggs. The female butterfly specifically hunts for plants that can eat caterpillars when she is ready to lay eggs. Some adult female butterflies use their legs to briefly land on a plant and detect if it is a
suitable home for their offspring. These are called host plants. Sometimes it is easy to see small butterfly eggs on the plant stems or undersides of leaves.
The right plants will provide all the nutrition the growing caterpillar needs until they pupate as part of the pupal stage. After many eggs have hatched, it is possible to find several caterpillars living together on one plant. You can also find them where bite marks have been left in leaves, clearly showing that a hungry caterpillar is making its way around the host.
Plants that attract egg-laying butterflies, feed groups of caterpillars, and host chrysalis include:
- Milkweed for the monarch
- Carrots, rue, parsley, dill or fennel for the black swallowtail butterfly
- Wild cherry, birch, ash, poplar, apple tree, tulip tree or plane tree for the tiger swallowtail
- Dutch pipe for the pipevine swallowtail
- Violet for the large-flowered mother-of-pearl butterfly
- Snapdragon for the Buckeye Butterfly
- Willow or elm for the mourning cloak butterfly
- Sunflower for the Gorgone checkerspot butterflies
- Helenium for the graceful sulfur butterfly and the painted lady butterfly
- Lupine for the silver blue butterfly
When the pupa opens and winged adult butterflies emerge, it is sometimes possible to see a kaleidoscope, swarm or roost of young butterflies for a sunny afternoon as they stretch their wings and warm up in the sun before flying out into the world.
Next one: Do butterflies lay eggs?
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