Colors also assist in courtship, helping male and female butterflies recognize each other as the correct species. Butterflies are found during the warmer months of the year in many different environments. In North America, May to August are generally the best months to view butterflies. To find them, you will do well looking in sunny exposed places with low plants. Many national parks, wildlife refuges, or other wild places are usually rich in butterfly species.
Most butterflies live for just a few weeks.
But in the case of butterflies this relationship is often incredibly specific. For the species to survive, the female butterflies must lay fertile eggs before their life ends. These eggs must be laid on or near the appropriate larval host plant to ensure the survival of the caterpillars that will later emerge from the eggs. The availability of caterpillar host plants is what makes butterfly species abundant in one area and unseen in another. For every butterfly species that is native to an area, there is a native plant that hosts it caterpillars.