Meet Our Garden Friend: The Helpful Butterfly

Those that choose to use eco friendly products often do so to help protect and nurture Australia's gorgeous wildlife. By avoiding single use products and nasty plastics, we ensure the environment is kept untouched – the way it should be for our furry, feathery and winged friends to flourish.

One garden friend most Australians will see every so often is the butterfly. These winged beauties are an important part of the ecosystem, and having them in your garden can increase overall biodiversity of your patch by attracting other animals, according to NRM Education.

However, what's most amazing about this fluttering insect are their incredibly interesting features. Underneath the gorgeous wings and delicate exterior, butterflies have some intriguing attributes.

Unlike other animals, butterflies use their senses with body parts that seem a little mixed up. For instance, according to the West Australian Foundation for Deaf Children (inc) (WAFDC), butterflies taste with their feet and smell with their antennae!

Along with this, butterflies cannot hear, but decipher their surroundings via vibration. They also do not have lungs, instead breathing through their body with 'spiracles', which are openings on the abdomen.

Adding to butterflies' amazing abilities are their luminous colour. We have all admired a butterfly in the garden before, but do you know where they get that stunning sheen from?

The WAFDC states butterflies get the colour on their wings from millions of overlapping scales. If removed, the scales won't affect the butterfly's ability to fly, but will cause them to have a less vibrant colour!

The WAFDC states there are 385 different species of butterfly in Australia, so you're bound to be able to attract at least one to your garden. The organisation also cites loss of habitat as the butterfly's largest threat – all the more reason to buy eco friendly products and make your backyard a butterfly friendly habitat!