Butterfly Habitat
the nature of butterflies
Butterflies are found all over the world and in all types of environments: hot and cold, dry and moist, at sea level and high in the mountains. Most butterfly species, however, are found in tropical areas, especially tropical rainforests. Many butterflies migrate in order to avoid adverse environmental conditions (like cold weather). Butterfly migration is not well understood. Most migrate relatively short distances (like the Painted Lady, the Red Admiral, and the Common Buckeye), but a few (like some Monarchs) migrate thousands of miles.
As roughly 70% of all flowering plants rely on pollinators to survive, Easton believes strongly in providing a habitat in which butterflies can pollinate and thrive.
You can visit our Butterfly Habitat between Fadó Irish Pub and Melting Pot.
Butterfly Facts
- Butterflies range in size from a tiny 1/8 inch to a huge one that is almost 12 inches.
- Butterflies can see red, green, and yellow.
- The top butterfly flight speed is 12 miles per hour. Some moths can fly 25 miles per hour!
- Monarch butterflies journey from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of about 2,000 miles, and return to the north again in the spring.
- Antarctica is the only continent on which no Lepidoptera have been found.
- There are about 24,000 species of butterflies. The moths are even more numerous: about 140,000 species of them were counted all over the world.
- Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.
