Is There More To Butterflies Than Meets The Eye?

Scientists study butterflies to see what they can tell us about our changing planet.

19:20 17 June 2015

Throughout history, butterflies have always symbolised not just transformation and purity but also death and sin. Scientists, with the aim to determine if there is more to butterflies than meets the eyes, took a closer look and conducted a study to see if they can tell us about our changing planet. 

 

American poet Robert Frost described them as “flowers that fly and all but sing” while Victor Huge Hugo said that they “are but torn love-letters that through the skies flutter and float and change to butterflies” in his poem, The Genesis of Butterflies.

 

Meanwhile, Peter Marren traces many beliefs that have held about butterflies. He believes that their journey from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to winged beauty has evoked stories that resonate with the mysteries of the soul, life, and death. 

 

In his new book, Rainbow Dust: Three Centuries of Delight in British Butterflies, he said that the transitions are symbols of hope, a sign that the human soul can break from earthly ties, darkness, and confinement to fly into the night. 

 

He added: "The butterfly was telling us about our own lives.”