Learn about Butterflies Day

Butterflies can't fly if they're cold. Butterfly wings are actually transparent. First of all, butterflies don’t have just two wings, they have four (made up of two hindwings and two forewings). These wings are made up of two layers of the protein chitin, sandwiching a layer of capillaries. The chitin is covered with modified hairs called ‘scales’ that contain pigments (such as our very own melanin, found in brown butterflies) that reflect light in different colours. Over time, some of these colourful scales will rub off, exposing the transparent membrane. It's really easy to attract butterflies to your garden.

Yes, butterflies and all other insects have both a brain and a heart. The center of a butterfly's nervous system is the subesophageal ganglion and is located in the insect's thorax, not its head. The butterfly has a long chambered heart that runs the length of its body on the upper side.