# Butterfly — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Superfamily Papilionoidea — order Lepidoptera; roughly 19,000 described species*

> Butterflies are day-flying insects of the superfamily Papilionoidea — about 19,000 species — that develop through complete metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult, and are widely used as indicators of habitat health.

**IUCN status:** Group page — status varies by species, from Least Concern to Critically Endangered  ·  **WARN range:** Every continent except Antarctica, Richest in tropical forests, Familiar in gardens, meadows and hedgerows worldwide

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Described species | ~19,000 |
| Life cycle | Complete metamorphosis, 4 stages |
| Adult mouthparts | Coiled proboscis — liquids only |
| Taste organs | Chemoreceptors on the feet |
| Wing colour | Pigment plus structural scale colour |
| Ecological role | Pollinators; caterpillars are a key bird food |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Arthropoda
- **Class:** Insecta
- **Order:** Lepidoptera
- **Superfamily:** Papilionoidea
- **Families:** Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Riodinidae, Nymphalidae, Hesperiidae

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Varies by species — group page
- **Population:** Not applicable at group level
- **Trend:** Declining in many intensively managed temperate landscapes
- **Assessed:** Assessed species-by-species
- **CITES:** A small number of species are CITES-listed (e.g. certain birdwings)
- Butterflies are assessed individually. Some are Critically Endangered and legally protected; many common species have no assessment at all.

## Key facts: Butterfly
- Butterflies and moths are both Lepidoptera; the split is a popular distinction rather than a strict taxonomic one.
- Nearly all butterflies are host-plant specialists as caterpillars, so losing one plant can lose the butterfly.
- Adults taste with their feet and drink through a coiled proboscis — they cannot chew.
- Wing colour comes from both pigment and microscopic scale structure that scatters light.
- Butterfly monitoring is a standard proxy for wider insect and habitat health.
- Nectar plants feed adults; host plants make new butterflies. A garden needs both.

## Butterfly or moth?
The usual rules of thumb — butterflies fly by day, hold their wings upright, have clubbed antennae and are brightly coloured — hold often enough to be useful and fail often enough to be unreliable. There are brilliantly coloured day-flying moths and drab butterflies, and plenty of moths rest with wings closed.

Genetically, butterflies sit inside the moth radiation rather than beside it: Papilionoidea is one branch of Lepidoptera, and the roughly 160,000 species usually called moths are the rest of the tree. 'Butterfly' is a real group, but 'moth' is not a single group at all.

## The four-stage life cycle
A female lays eggs on or beside a specific host plant. The caterpillar that hatches is an eating machine, moulting through several instars and growing enormously in days or weeks. It then pupates: inside the chrysalis, larval tissue is largely dismantled and rebuilt into an adult around clusters of cells set aside from the start.

The emerging adult has a completely different job — dispersal and reproduction. It drinks nectar, sap or mineral-rich moisture through a coiled proboscis, tastes potential host plants with chemoreceptors on its feet, and in most species lives only long enough to mate and lay.

## Why butterfly numbers matter beyond butterflies
Because butterflies are short-lived, specialised and easy for volunteers to identify, long-running transect counts produce unusually good data. Those counts have documented steep declines in many temperate regions, driven by agricultural intensification, habitat fragmentation, nitrogen enrichment, pesticide use and climate-driven mismatches between insect emergence and plant timing.

Butterflies are also pollinators — less efficient than bees per visit, but mobile, and important for plants with deep or exposed flowers. Their caterpillars, meanwhile, are a foundational food source: many farmland and woodland birds time their breeding to caterpillar abundance.

## Making a garden actually work for butterflies
Most butterfly gardening stops at nectar. Nectar keeps adults alive; host plants let them breed. A patch of nettles, native grasses, or the specific larval plants used in your region will do more than any amount of buddleia.

Beyond planting: skip systemic insecticides, cut less often and later, leave seedheads and leaf litter for overwintering pupae and adults, and keep a damp patch for mud-puddling. Sunny, sheltered, untidy corners support far more species than neat ones.

## What WARN does
WARN publishes free, sourced species education covering the full breadth of animal life, not only the large mammals that dominate wildlife coverage. Insects carry the pollination, decomposition and food-web load that every larger animal depends on, and they are where habitat change shows up first.

If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.

## Frequently asked questions: Butterfly
### What is the difference between a butterfly and a moth?
Butterflies are a single branch (Papilionoidea) within the order Lepidoptera; 'moths' are all the other branches. Butterflies usually fly by day and have clubbed antennae, but there are day-flying moths and dull butterflies, so the everyday rules are guidance rather than definitions.

### How many butterfly species are there?
Roughly 19,000 butterfly species have been described worldwide, spread across six families, with the greatest diversity in tropical forests.

### How long do butterflies live?
It varies widely. Many adults live one to four weeks. Species that overwinter as adults, or migratory generations such as the autumn monarch, can live several months.

### What do butterflies eat?
Adults drink liquids — nectar, tree sap, fruit juices and mineral-rich moisture — through a coiled proboscis. Caterpillars eat leaves, and most are restricted to one plant or a small group of related plants.

### Are butterflies declining?
Long-running monitoring shows steep declines for many species in intensively farmed and urbanised regions, driven by habitat loss, pesticides, fragmentation and climate-driven timing mismatches. Some generalist and warmth-favoured species are increasing, which can mask losses among specialists.

### How do I attract butterflies to my garden?
Provide both nectar plants for adults and the larval host plants used in your region, avoid systemic insecticides, mow less and later, leave leaf litter and seedheads for overwintering stages, and give them a sunny, sheltered spot.

### Where do butterflies live?
Butterflies occur on every continent except Antarctica, with the greatest diversity in tropical forests. They are also familiar in gardens, meadows and hedgerows worldwide, where roughly 19,000 described species across six families make them sensitive indicators of habitat health.

### Are butterflies dangerous?
Butterflies are not dangerous to people. Adults drink liquids through a coiled proboscis and cannot chew, while caterpillars feed on leaves tied to specific host plants. Their short lifespans and rapid response to land-management changes make them important ecological indicators rather than threats.

### How big are butterflies?
Butterflies are day-flying insects of the superfamily Papilionoidea — about 19,000 species — that develop through complete metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult, and are widely used as indicators of habitat health.

## Sources
- [IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)
- [CITES Appendices](https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/butterfly