Learn About Butterflies Day

Butterfly is a small but colorful animal that adorns life. Butterflies are diverse and many species of butterflies are in danger of extinction. March 14 every year is celebrated as National Butterflies Day, to raise awareness about butterflies, and to recognize this beautiful animal.

Learn About Butterflies History

There are about 170,000 species of butterflies in the world, they belong to the species of insects with a high species diversity compared to other insects.

Butterflies are wonderfully beautiful flying insects with wide, colorful wings. Like other insects, butterflies have a structure consisting of: 6 legs, 3 body parts (head, thorax and abdomen), antennae, compound eyes and an exoskeleton.

The butterfly's body is a little complicated, it is covered with sensory hairs,4 wings and 6 legs are attached to the chest.

Butterflies are extremely capable of flying. They have large wings with overlapping iridescent, colorful scales. The only insects with scaly wings are butterflies and months. The wings are attached to the thorax, and strong veins on the wings help to transfuse them with blood.

The flight speed of butterflies varies between species (and there are also poisonous to non-venomous species). The fastest flying species has a speed of 30 mph, the slowest is 5 mph.

Butterflies can only fly when the body temperature is above 30℃. In winter, they warm themselves by flapping their wings.

In contrast to moths, butterflies are active mainly during the day and take refuge in safe places and at night

Butterflies undergo a complete transformation consisting of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The life cycle of butterflies is fast or slow depending on the species and environmental conditions.

Eggs: Butterflies begin life with an egg, which is usually laid on a leaf by the mother.

Larvae: larvae (caterpillars) hatch from eggs and feed on leaves and flowers (almost continuously). They will shed their skin many times to develop the body until it is ready to pupate.

Pupae: At this stage, they seem to be resting in a large cocoon, but inside there is a very strong body transformation.

Mature: a butterfly with wide, colorful wings emerges from the cocoon. It exposes itself for hours to let its body harden and begin its journey.

Butterflies and the Danger of Extinction

Nature conservationists in the UK are urging the public to help with local butterfly and moth censuses so they can more accurately assess their risk of extinction.

The number of butterflies/monks in the UK has decreased significantly due to changes in the ecological environment over the past 30 years. Conservationists warn some are in danger of extinction.

The charity Butterfly Conservation urges the public to take 15 minutes a day to enumerate the species of butterflies in their area. With public submissions, the butterfly conservation organization can better profile them to assess their risk of extinction.

Butterflies Conservation warns that up to a quarter of the 59 species of butterflies and moths in the UK are in decline, and half are at risk of disappearing from the island nation. Some common types that were previously put on the protection list, such as the green butterflies.

Summers in the UK have been shorter than usual in recent years, threatening the reproduction of butterflies and moths due to temperatures not being warm enough.

International organizations are calling on everyone to join hands to conserve endangered butterfly species. However, the origin and founding organization of National Butterfly Day are still being searched. It is not clear why March 14 is designated as National Butterflies Day, but on this day everyone will learn about butterflies and there are many different activities that can be done

Observing National Butterflies Day

On National Butterflies Day, there are many activities you can participate in. For example: go to plant and animal sanctuaries to see the butterflies that live there, go around the farms, the rainforest shores and take note of the butterflies you come across and send pictures their photos to Butterfly Conservation so that the organization can record and make statistics of which butterfly species are living in which territories and areas, and use that as a document for the next generation.

Butterflies love flowers, and adults often feed on liquid nectar, and some butterflies also eat plant sap. So, on National Butterflies Day, if you love butterflies, love to see them in your garden, create a habitat for them, mixing colorful flowers and sweet nectar, to attract butterflies. in your garden.

Plus, you can take the time to learn interesting characteristics of butterflies in the world, raising awareness about them. And share your insights on social media with the hashtag #NationalButterfliesDay.