In summer you can enjoy colorful butterflies that regularly visit your garden. As the summer draws to a close, visits become less frequent until the bugs finally fade from your mind altogether. But especially in the cold season, they need your help. By providing butterflies with species-appropriate winter quarters, you help them overwinter. Here you will find all important information and tips.
Butterflies hibernate in late autumn
How do butterflies overwinter?
Like many other insects, butterflies hibernate at the end of autumn. They remain motionless in one place while they shut down their energy metabolism. They usually look for frost-free buildings. It is not uncommon for a butterfly to fly into inhabited houses.
butterflies in the apartment
Two species of butterflies in particular are often found in apartments:
- the peacock butterfly
- the little fox
If you find a moth in your four walls, you must not turn on the heating to warm the insect. At temperatures of over 12°C, the animals wake up from their hibernation. Due to the lack of food, the butterflies starve. However, releasing the insect into the open is not a solution either. It would freeze here after a short time.
Instead, do the following:
- Cut a small hole in the lid of a cardboard box.
- Catch the butterfly and carefully place it in the box.
- Place the cardboard box in a cool, sheltered place (basement, garage,…).
- Seal the opening with a beer coaster, for example.
- Make sure that the temperature in the box remains constant at 5-10°C.
- In the spring remove the cover.
- Make sure that the butterfly can leave its winter quarters (garage, garden shed, (24.90€)…).