Some interesting facts about these wonderful creatures – the butterflies:

1. Butterflies belong to the order of  insects, which is second in number on the planet Earth. So far, we know of more than 180,000 species of butterflies, and every day new species are discovered in the hidden healthy places of our planet and in the rainforests.
2. Their size ranges from ultra small (wingspan up to 1 cm) to super large (wingspan up to 30 cm).
3. They cannot fly if their body temperature is not appropriate, that is above 30 degrees. And when they do fly, they can reach a fantastic speed of up to 20 km per hour.
4. Their magnificent multicolored wings are actually transparent. The wings are composed of a protein that is covered with spots. Those spots, by refracting the light from the surrounding environment, reflect the beautiful colors of the rainbow.
5. Butterflies can differentiate colors, but they cannot see that much details. They clearly see the red, yellow and green, and can see colors of the ultraviolet spectrum. Numerous butterflies have ultraviolet pigments on their wings which are invisible to the human eye. They can perceive the world from both visible and invisible spectrum, and they are an inseparable part of it.
6. They feed mainly on the “food of the gods” – the flower pure nectar, and are very picky. Their taste buds are located on their feet. That is the reason why we can often see them in nature “dancing on the flower “.
7. Butterflies are at the bottom of the food chain and that is why they have developed remarkable tactics for adaptation and survival. They are polymorphous and masters in mimicry and camouflage.
8. Most butterflies live a total of a few weeks only, however there are some species that have evolved and developed the ability to live more than several months or even a year. In their survival, resorting to hibernation they have found ways to overcome the cold and winter. These particular butterfly species appear in the worm days with the first sun, announcing the spring with its other heralds. Although their colors are faded by then and their wings looked ragged and worn out, they gloriously announce life, new growth and change.
9. The life of a butterfly is one of a constant change, transformation, growth, development, maturation, liberation and transformation from one form of existence to a higher one. In a word, it is a metamorphosis. The butterfly is the only creature capable of completely changing its genetic structure during its dramatic transformation process. That is why the existence of these magnificent, beautiful and fragile creatures convey great symbolism.
10. In all civilizations, spiritual and religious traditions, the butterfly symbol holds a special place. The going through metamorphosis represents spiritual-material birth and life, development, maturation, death and liberation. It is a symbol of the soul, psyche and immortality. Through the process of spiritual-material metamorphosis, it turns from an earthly caterpillar into a celestial winged being and represents a symbol of birth and resurrection. Thus, the butterfly symbolizes and glorifies life, the joy of life, spiritual-material development, and through the resurrection it expresses desire for a long spiritual existence. Since the Paleolithic age, the butterfly has been considered as one of the Great Mother Goddess symbols. Due to its spiritual-material ease of transformation, survival and metamorphosis, purposefulness, grace, beauty and sophistication, it is a symbol of the female principle in all cultures. The butterfly’s dance symbolizes love, joy, happiness, contentment, fulfillment, peace, serenity, tranquility and balance in life, as well as good relations with the surrounding world.

Prepared by Lucija Selaković Labat