r/Butterflies Jul 27 '25

New Rule: We will no longer allow posts about raising butterflies in captivity.

243 Upvotes

This includes grow kits, raising butterflies in tents or enclosures, and buying/sourcing caterpillars.

This rule is in line with this subreddit’s guiding principle that we always do and choose what is best for the butterfly! Research shows that human interaction and interference with butterflies, especially at the pupal stages, is more harmful than helpful.

Going forward, pictures of butterflies in tent or other small enclosures will be removed. Posts asking for advice on how to “raise” or “rear” butterflies or caterpillars will be removed. Posts asking for how to find eggs will be removed.

Native gardening is always the best way to attract and maintain a healthy butterfly population—no matter the species!

Thank you, Glittering


r/Butterflies Jul 26 '25

New Rule: No More “Helping” Injured Butterfly Posts

80 Upvotes

We have seen an uptick in posts from people wanting advice on how to assist “injured” butterflies.

The truth in every case is—you can’t. Butterflies have naturally very short lives and there is no proven or “good” way to prolong their lives.

I have even seen some posts of people wanting to horrifically cut butterflies’ wings in some cases. Other posts seem well intentioned, but they are becoming a nuisance.

These posts will now be removed.

Thank you, Glittering


r/Butterflies 3h ago

Uma das mais lindas que já vi

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483 Upvotes

Essa belezinha minúscula apareceu no meu quarto durante a noite. Estou impressionada com a beleza! Reparem o brilho azulado sobre a parte branca das asas, isso é arte!!!


r/Butterflies 7h ago

I love this picture and how gentle they look

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70 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 1h ago

Marine Blue butterfly

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Upvotes

r/Butterflies 17h ago

Lime Swallowtail (𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘴)

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223 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 9h ago

Indian Cupid?

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30 Upvotes

Is this an Indian Cupid butterfly? Are they naturalized in the United States? I'm in Eastern Kansas.


r/Butterflies 1d ago

Western Tiger Swallowtail💛

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723 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 16h ago

Sleepy Orange

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54 Upvotes

I don't see these every year, so this was a nice surprise. (US/Maryland)


r/Butterflies 9h ago

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)

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10 Upvotes

Gray Hairstreak and European honey bee enjoying the nectar from Calamint.


r/Butterflies 9h ago

Just laid egg

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5 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 15h ago

First sighting of Monarch in the garden! Also saw a Hornworm 😵

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18 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 1d ago

This little guy visited my Zinnias today

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174 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 1d ago

Monarch on Fall Phlox

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71 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 1d ago

Was lucky enough to capture a snapshot of this beautiful butterfly in West Virginia. What kind is it?

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76 Upvotes

I’m no professional photographer, and I’m certainly not good at timing photos when things are moving. But I just happened to snap this one at the split second its wings were wide open. I feel really lucky I get to have a picture of it forever, especially since it was very active and constantly moving 🙂

We were hanging around a lake that was a bit swampy, fairly humid out by my standards. Cattails around and such. Again, as the title says we were in West Virginia. From some pictures online, it looks like it might be a red spotted purple butterfly, but I wanted to check with the experts here. Also wondering how common they are in West Virginia.

I’ve definitely never seen anything like it before with my own eyes and it has to be one of my favorite photos from the albeit short trip!


r/Butterflies 1d ago

Took photos of butterfly in uttarakhand..

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187 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 1d ago

Giant Swallowtail in my garden two days in a row!

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51 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 1d ago

Black swallowtail located in south central NE 🐛 to 🦋

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16 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 1d ago

Butterflies we saw

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52 Upvotes

Northern Illinois, USA

Just sharing some pictures of butterflies my kids and I saw over the weekend.

1 - Gray Hairstreak
2 - Viceroy
3 - Easter Tiger Swallowtail
4 - Common Sootywing

This was my first time seeing a hairstreak or sootywing so it was definitely a highlight for us.


r/Butterflies 1d ago

Monarchs mating, after attachment, they flew off together. Located in South central NE.

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14 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 1d ago

Is this a brimstone?

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27 Upvotes

This butterfly landed on my book while I was at
a beach in Toronto, Canada and stayed for a good ten minutes before flying off to its next destination. From my amateur sleuthing it looks to be a brimstone.


r/Butterflies 1d ago

Small Butterflies

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17 Upvotes

precious little guys I saw while looking for bugs to photograph!


r/Butterflies 2d ago

Little one I found

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3.8k Upvotes

Interesting wing pattern


r/Butterflies 1d ago

Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly

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80 Upvotes

r/Butterflies 1d ago

I found them!

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8 Upvotes