All you need to know about butterflies

Butterflies are the bimbos of the natural world. Their flight paths meander like disturbed thoughts while also pure and seemingly unencumbered by the direction from a brain as small as a full stop.

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They are unbelievable diverse. There are around 18 000 species without being too exact. Flitting from flower to flower, they all behave very much alike and they all look alike. They sup on sweet nectars through a toothless tube that rolls out. Their wings are covered in tiny prisms and mirrors that trick light into gorgeous iridescence, which make them even more gorgeous.

They are beautiful, sweet, innocent, gentle, graceful and predictable – no wonder they are so awfully boring.

However, monarch butterflies tip the scale off the boredom side. Calculating in caterpillar mode, dangerous in colour, irritating slow in flight and so poisonous it makes some birds sick just looking at it – we can call it a butterfly with character. And they are everywhere. Their orange wings are veined in black and edged with white spots, which continue over their bodies. Their colours show a finger to caution. The males have black spots on their secondary wings, which exude pheromone perfumes that attract females.

They are characterized by their universal obsession with a poisoned chalice called milkweed. Their abiding relationship with the plant takes place on every continent except Antarctica. Birds eating monarchs have been seen throwing up shortly afterwards, so they definitely not good to eat.

The survival strategy of poison-free butterflies such as the mocker swallowtails and viceroys, is to look like a monarchs in order to deter predators.

If monarchs grow older, the toxins in their system fade to below the danger level for predators. But its colouring signals its former poisonous self. Predators don’t know the difference and most have learned the hard way.