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A butterfly is an insect of the order Lepidoptera, it belongs to either the Hesperioidea (the skippers) or Papilionoidea (all other butterflies) Superfamilies. Some authors have also suggested the inclusion of the superfamily Hedyloidea, the American butterfly moths.[1] They are notable for their unusual life cycle with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal stage and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar and colourful winged adult form. The diverse patterns formed by their brightly coloured wings and their erratic-yet-graceful flight have made butterfly watching a popular hobby.

The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a well-known North American butterfly. Since the 19th century, it is also found in New Zealand, and in Australia where it is also known as the Wanderer Butterfly. In Europe it is resident in the Canary Islands (except Lanzarote) and Madeira, and is found as a migrant in the Azores, Portugal and Spain. Its wings feature an easily recognisable orange and black pattern, with a wingspan of 8.5–12.5 cm. The females have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot in the center of each hindwing from which pheromones are released.

Monarchs live for about 9 months, but they don't always look like butterflies. The monarch begins its life as an egg. The eggs, layed on milkweed leaves, hatch into caterpillars. The baby caterpillars eat the milkweed, and grow very quickly. The milkweed contains a poison that the monarchs use as a defense. While the poison doesn't hurt the monarchs, it makes them taste bad to birds and other predators. Predators soon learn to avoid the bright colors of the monarch caterpillars and butterflies.

The Monarch goes through four radically different stages:

1. The eggs are laid by the females during spring and summer breeding months.
2. The eggs hatch, revealing worm-like larva, the caterpillars. The caterpillars consume their egg cases, then feed on milkweed, and sequester substances called cardenolides, related to the cardiac glycoside digitalis. During the caterpillar stage, Monarchs store energy in the form of fat and nutrients to carry them through the non-feeding pupa stage.
3. In the pupa or chrysalis stage, the caterpillar spins a silk pad on a twig, leaf, etc. and hangs from this pad by its last pair of prolegs. It hangs upside down in the shape of a 'J', and then molts, leaving itself encased in an articulated green exoskeleton. At this point, hormonal changes occur, leading to the development of a butterfly.
4. The mature butterfly emerges after about two weeks and feeds on a variety of flowers, including milkweed flowers, red clover, and goldenrod.

According to the “Butterflies” chapter in Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn, a butterfly is seen as the personification of a person's soul, whether they be living, dying, or already dead. One Japanese superstition says that if a butterfly enters your guestroom and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. On the contrary, large numbers of butterflies are viewed as bad omens. When Taira no Masakado was secretly preparing for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyoto so vast a swarm of butterflies that the people were frightened—-thinking the apparition to be a portent of coming evil.

According to Mircea Eliade's Encyclopedia of Religion, some of the Nagas of Manipur trace their ancestry from a butterfly.

In Chinese culture two butterfly flying together is a symbolism for a loving couple. Also a famous Chinese folk story called Butterfly Lovers (a chinese Romeo and Juliet story).

In some old culture Butterfly also symbolize rebirth into a new life after being inside a cocoon for a while.

Artistic depictions of butterflies have been used in many cultures including Egyptian hieroglyphics 3500 years ago. Today butterflies are widely used in various objects of art.

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