How to Help Local Butterflies

Eliminate Pesticide Use

Use organic methods to discourage bad bugs, as pesticides kill butterflies.

Reconsider Butterfly Releases

• Releasing butterflies into the wild at social events can harm wild butterfly populations and ecosystems as well as the released butterflies.
• Released butterflies could mate with wild butterflies, potentially polluting or reducing the genetic viability of wild populations.
• Butterfly breeders could produce butterflies that carry diseases and parasites, which might spread to wild butterflies.

Butterfly breeders could produce butterflies that carry diseases and parasites that might spread to wild butterflies.
If you are thinking about releasing butterflies for a special occasion, contact your state agency to determine which species/types of butterflies are allowed for release in your area. And make sure that the organization from which you are receiving the butterflies has all the proper governmental permits. Remember, if a butterfly is not native to an area, you are releasing it into an inappropriate habitat. For more information, check out the North American Butterfly Association’s statement on this subject.

Plant a Butterfly Garden

You can create a welcoming environment for butterflies in your own neighborhood. All it takes is water, a sunny location, some good soil and space for plants.

• Learn which butterflies live in your region.
• Learn which plants are native to your region.
• Butterflies depend on plants for their survival.
• Different plants are needed during different stages of a butterfly’s life.
• Make sure you have food plants for caterpillars as well as flowering plants that provide nectar for adult butterflies.
• Avoid using pesticides in your garden. If a garden is good for butterflies, it is also good for birds, other wildlife and you.