100 BUTTERFLY PICTURES and Big Butterfly Images

Author:
Writer Fox
Updated date:
Sep 14, 2015

A Morpho butterfly picture.
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, via Wikimedia Commons

Butterfly Pictures and Images

Over 100 free butterfly pictures and large butterfly images. Find close-up, professional butterfly photos, every color of butterfly pics and butterfly facts.

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On this page you will find dozens of free butterfly pictures (which you may use for personal use*). Just right click on the butterfly image you want and save it to your computer. Enjoy!

These are photos of real butterflies. If you are looking for clip art, just go see butterfly clip art.

You'll find free butterfly pictures and images in each section below, arranged by color. Or, you can just scroll down the page to see all of the butterfly pictures and photos.

TABLE OF CONTENTS - Jump to Section
Black Butterflies
Black and White Butterflies
Blue Butterflies
Brown Butterflies
Green Butterflies
Monarch Butterflies
Orange Butterflies
Orange and Black Halloween Butterflies
Pink Butterflies
Purple Butterflies
Red Butterflies
White Butterflies
Yellow Butterflies
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Black Butterflies

Black Butterfly

Black Swallowtail Butterfly Pic with Wings Spread

Black Swallow Tail Butterfly among Flowers

Black, White and Pink Butterfly, Known as the Papilio Rumanzovia

Extreme Close-up Image of a Butterfly Wing

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Papilio Rumanzovia Butterfly

The Papilio Rumanzovia in the picture above is also called Scarlet Mormon Butterfly. He lives in the Philippines but sometimes flies over to Taiwan for a vacation holiday.

Many of them are all black, but pink splashes of color are also found in some varieties.

Like all butterflies, the wing colors are actually made up of tiny hairs that grow on scales that form the wings. Look at the butterfly photo above to see a close-up of the wings.

Image of Black Butterfly on a Thistle Flower

Did You Know?

There are more than 20,000 different kinds of butterflies, each with a different color pattern and a different wing shape!

Black and White Butterflies

This group of butterfly pictures shows black and white patterns in true art deco style with intricate designs.

Each one is a flying work of art.

Black and White Butterfly with Pink Flower

One of a kind, this real butterfly in a wood frame is an extraordinary accent to contemporary décor.

This is a unique gift for nature lovers and is a stand-alone, true work of art.

Zebra Longwing Butterfly (Heliconius Charitonius)

Zebra Black and White Striped Butterfly on Sunflower

Fact About Butterflies

Unlike many other insects, butterflies don't sting and they don't bite. They don't have teeth and they don't have stingers.

Black and White Butterfly

This black and white beauty took a break from his lunch and looked right at the camera in the remarkable butterfly picture below:

Blue Butterflies

Fenders Blue Butterfly (Icaricia Icarioides Fenderi) is an endangered species.

Blue Butterfly Pics

Metallic Blue Butterfly
Andrea at Flickr

Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis)

White Admiral Blue Butterfly
Saxophlute, via Wikimedia Commons

Common Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus icarus)

Butterfly Facts

Without butterflies to pollinate, many plants and flowers would cease to exist on planet earth.

Butterflies pollinate a much wider area than bees because they fly greater distances.

Willamette Valley Fenders Butterfly

The rare butterfly pictured below is on the endangered species list. It is only found in Western Oregon, U.S.A., and ten years ago there were only 200 known to exist. After efforts on the part of the government to reestablish their natural habitat, the numbers have increased to almost 4,000.

The Once-endangered Willamette Valley Fenders Blue Butterfly Icaricia Icarioides Fenderi)

Iridescent Rhetus Butterfly from Brazil
Paulo Neis, Wikimedia Commons

Brown Butterflies

Palmfly Brown Butterfly (Elymnias Hypermnestra) in Nose-up Landing on a Leaf

Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge Map

Lange's Metalmark Butterfly

The Lange's Metalmark Butterfly, pictured below, lives exclusively in sand dunes in the San Francisco Bay area. Fifty years ago, the population was estimated at about 25,000 insects.

Because of severe changes in its ecosystem, this specie is on its way to extinction. As the sand dunes were mined for sand and as herbicides were applied to remove vegetation, the butterflies began to disappear.

In 1980, their habitat was designated as the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge and efforts were made to restore the environment and preserve the insect. Unfortunately, this endangered specie now numbers about 30 adults. It is unlikely that this butterfly will survive.

Two rare photographs are in the butterfly images below:

Lange's Metalmark Butterfly (Apodemia Mormo Langei)

Orange and Black Lange's Metalmark Butterfly – Note the damage to butterfly's wings.

Butterfly Gardening Book from the Xerces Society and the Smithsonian Institution

The Butterfly Garden

Learn what to plant in your backyard garden to attract and nurture butterflies. Planting and maintaining a butterfly garden can be a rewarding family project.

This book, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute, is splendidly illustrated with pictures and images. It is everything you need to create your personal butterfly wonderland and support the earth's ecosystem, even if you live in an urban area.

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly (Clossiana Frigga)

Great Spangled Fritilary Brown Butterfly on Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) Flowers

Butterfly Facts

Each butterfly eye is made up of many tiny eyes which point in different directions, so a butterfly can see all around at the same time.

They can also see ultraviolet light, which humans cannot see.

And they can see the color red, which is invisible to bees.

The butterfly image above is an extraordinary close-up photo of the face of a butterfly.

Here you can see the proboscis – the butterfly mouthpiece – in its coiled position.

The proboscis works much like an elephant's trunk. It coils when he's not feeding and then it stretches out to drink and feed when he sucks nectar and sap from flowers and plants.

Green Butterflies

Green Butterfly Photos

The green butterfly in the photo below looks just like a variegated leaf!

Madagascar Sunset (Chrysiridia Rhipheus)

The Madagascar Sunset only lives on the island of Madagascar. It is actually a moth, a cousin to the butterfly. It is highly prized by collectors because of its exquisite beauty.

A gorgeous, real butterfly from Southeast Asia is a treasure for green lovers everywhere. This natural beauty comes in a wood frame, perfect for a gift.

Butterfly Wings

Butterflies have four wings: two forewings and two hindwings. Their wings, in so many different colors and patterns, make them the most beautiful and most loved of all insects!

Look closely at the butterfly images below and you will see the two sets of wings.

Monarch Butterflies

Monarch Butterflies live in many parts of the world but are most well known for their great numbers in North America.

Every year, they migrate from the United States in August and travel to Mexico for the winter. They swarm in the millions and cover entire trees where they sleep at night. In the spring, they return again to America where their journey began.

The flight is so long that the generation of butterflies which begins the trip is not the one which finishes the return flight.

The Monarch migration is one of nature's fascinating miracles.

Pictures of Monarch Butterflies

Monarch Butterfly

Migrating Monarch Butterflies Resting in a Tree

Raise Your Own Monarch Butterflies

Raise your own butterflies in this kit with everything you need. Your shipment of caterpillars comes with food and you will watch in amazement as they grow, form chrysalides, and then hatch into butterflies to be released in your garden or in a neighborhood park.

Children love this creative science project and it can be reused time and time again. It's a great activity for the whole family to enjoy!

It comes with complete instructions and butterfly pics.

Orange Butterflies

Orange Albatross Butterfly (Appias Nero)

Bring the outdoors in with this real butterfly from India. It comes in a wooden frame, perfect for gift-giving. It's a wonderful way to brighten someone's day! It's also a pleasant get-well greeting for someone who is sick or hospitalized (much better than a butterfly photo on a card).

Orange Butterfly with Black and White Polka Dots

Orange Butterfly Drinking Nectar from Orange Flowers

Closeup of Butterfly Drinking Nectar from Pink Flower

Tiger Butterflies

The Tiger Butterfly is decorated with stripes just like the tiger animal.

It lives in Brazil, but flies northward to Mexico and sometimes as far away as Kansas in the United States.

Orange Tiger Butterfly (Dryadula Phaetusa)

Banded Orange Tiger Butterfly (Heliconian)

Tiger Passionsfalter Butterfly Picture (Heliconius Ismenius)

Orange Butterfly with Black and Purple Dots

Peacock Butterflies

The Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io) gets its name from the feathers of the beautiful male peacock bird, which look like they have eyes.

The butterflies are found from England to Japan and are usually a burnt orange color, with 'eyes' of purple, blue, white, gold, orange and black. They are gorgeous models for butterfly photos!

Orange Peacock Butterfly on Yellow Flower

Aphrodite Fritillary (Speyeria Aphrodite) Orange Butterfly Feeding on Purple Thistle

Orange Butterfly Looking at Camera - Silver-Washed Fritillary Butterfly (Argynnis paphia) 'My, What big eyes you have!'

Orange and Black Halloween Butterflies

Have you ever wanted to make a butterfly mask for Halloween?

Of course, you can make a butterfly in any color, but the butterflies below are the perfect pattern to use because they are all orange and black and look like they were made for the holiday.

Just make a mask from one of these butterfly images and dress like a flower, and you'll look just like a butterfly on a flower!

Orange and Black Halloween Butterflies

Orange and Black Halloween Butterfly – This specie is called 'Painted Lady' or 'Cosmopolitan' (Vanessa cardui).

Orange and Black Butterfly

Orange and Black Butterfly with Lace Pattern

Orange and Black Halloween Butterfly on Flowers

Baltimore Euphydryas Phaeton on a Daisy
Alison Hunter, via Wikimedia Commons

This is a color-coordinated butterfly! In the photo above, did you notice the little orange beads at the end of his antennae?

Also in the image, notice his proboscis mouthpiece is busily sucking juice from the yellow daisy.

Pink Butterfles

Purple Butterflies

Purple Emperor Butterfly
Kristian Peters, Wikimedia Commons

Purple Spotted Swallowtail (Graphium Weiskei)

This real butterfly from the highlands of New Guinea is a natural work of art. Stunning home decoration and perfect gift for anyone, this butterfly mounted in flight is awe-inspiring.

Purple Hairstreak Butterfly
SVDMOLEN, Wikimedia Commons

Freyer's Purple Emperor Butterfly
Cserlajos at the English language Wikipedia

Red Butterflies

Black Burnet (Filipendulae) Moth (often mistaken for a butterfly)

Red Butterfly

Crimson Rose Swallowtail Butterfly
J.M. Garg, Wikimedia Commons

Scarlet Schwalbenschwanz Butterfly (Papilio Rumanzovia)

Red and Blue Butterfly Splashing Water
Image courtesy of THAWATS/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

White Butterflies

White Butterfly

White Apollo Butterfly
Wenkbrauwalbatros, Wikimedia Commons

Yellow Butterflies

This one-of-a-kind real butterfly encased in acrylic is a whimsical presence in any room. Brighten your day or someone else's with this perfect gift of cheer. It comes packed in a golden gift box.

Did you notice the little bumble bee in the pic above?

Yellow Swallow Tail Butterfly on Pink Flower

Yellow Swallow Tail Butterfly and Purple Flowers

Close-up Butterfly Images

In the two close-up, butterfly pictures below, you can clearly see the proboscis extended, sucking nectar from the flowers.

In the first image, the butterfly is looking directly at the photographer for an amazing photo, mimicking that famous quote from the movie Taxi Driver:

"Are you looking at me?"

For shots like these of small, flying insects, all you need is the right camera.

Closeup Picture of Yellow Swallow Tail Looking Directly at the Photographer

Yellow Swallow Tail Drinking Nectar from Red Flowers

Clouded Sulpher Buttefly (Colias Philodice)

Small Grass Yellow or Broad-bordered Grass Yellow Butterfly (Eurema Brigitta) on Yellow Flower

Little Yellow Butterfly (Eurema Lisa ) Taking Nectar from Pink Flowers

Be sure to check out the two great additional resources below.

Miracle of Butterflies Video

Extreme Cose-up of Julia Butterfly (Dryas Julia)
Moe Epsilon, via Wikimedia Commons

Professional Quality Butterfly Pictures

The perfect butterfly picture above was taken by Moe Epsilon at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida.

How did he capture such a great shot? It was easier than you might imagine. He used this smartphone:

Samsung Galaxy S II, Model T989, with an 8MP Camera

You'll have professional quality butterfly images with this phone, on sale now with secure ordering from Amazon.com. Grab it while you can at that unbelievable price!