Why do butterflies fly?
Butterflies fly to find mates and female butterflies fly to find plants that their caterpillars can feed on. They also fly to avoid being eaten by predators, such as birds. Flying takes energy, so they also fly from flower to flower to get more “fuel” to power their flight.
Butterflies are beautiful, but their close relatives, the moths, have much more diverse and interesting lifestyles. All butterflies can fly, but the females of some moth species have lost their ability to fly and some even have little bitty wings that are useless! Instead of putting their energy into growing wings and flight muscles, they make thousands of eggs. They have traded the ability to fly to be super-moms. This only works if their offspring’s food plants are easy to find, like big trees.
Butterfly caterpillars often feed on host plants that are too small to support more than a couple of caterpillars and that are hard to find and scattered throughout the landscape. Butterfly females need to be strong fliers to find those plants and make sure they lay all their eggs during their 2-3 week adult lifespan. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino