How Do Butterflies Survive the Winter? An Analysis of Common Overwintering Methods

Whenever spring arrives and flowers bloom, you can always see those fluttering butterflies among the flowers, yet in winter you cannot see them. So how do butterflies survive the winter? What beautiful varieties are there?

How do butterflies overwinter?

There are many ways butterflies overwinter. For example, adult butterflies will migrate, finding a suitable place to spend the winter, or find a sheltered spot and tuck in their wings. Some overwinter in the egg stage, which is also the most common. Others are in the larval stage during winter, either crawling into the soil or curling up among the leaves to overwinter.

What beautiful butterfly varieties are there?

Most butterflies are very beautiful, so here are a few briefly introduced for you.

1. Monarch butterfly

The monarch butterfly is very beautiful and is called the best-looking butterfly in the world. It is also the only migratory butterfly. Every year they fly thousands of kilometers to escape the severe cold of North America.

2. Blue morpho

The blue morpho, also known as the blue morpho butterfly, giant blue morpho, or blue enchantress, is the national butterfly of Brazil. The upper surface of the adult female's wings is blue, while the color and texture of the underside closely resemble dead leaves, showing mottled brown, gray, black, or red.

3. Swallowtail butterfly

The swallowtail butterfly, also known as the citrus swallowtail, is mainly black in color, accented with brilliant patterns in blue, purple, red, yellow, orange, green, and more.

4. Red postman butterfly

The red postman butterfly, also called the postman butterfly, is mainly distributed in the Brazil region, and this species has a history of millions of years.

5. Luehdorfia butterfly

The luehdorfia butterfly has yellow as the base color of its wings. The outer edge of the forewings has a broad black band, and the wing surface bears some short black streaks, just like tiger skin. The outer edge of the hindwings is wavy, with short tails; the black band on the outer edge is set with crescent-shaped yellow spots, the middle of the black band is inlaid with blue spots, and the innermost part has a row of crescent-shaped red spots, making it very beautiful. It likes to live in forest-edge areas with strong light and not-too-high humidity.