how long does a butterfly or moth live

View an explanatory video on how long butterflies live click here
View a visual example of how long butterflies live click here

 

It is hard to give a quick response on how long a butterfly or moth might live as it varies greatly from species to species.  It is also important, when talking about longevity of a butterflies or moths, to consider the times of all four of their live stages and not just the adult stage.

The image on the left displays relative time periods for the four developmental stages for six different species.  These species were specifically chosen to display the wide range of life history pattern that exist.  In the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing we like to say, on average as adults butterflies they live about two weeks if you were to taking all species into consideration at one time.  Again, this will vary greatly if you were to look at a single species and depending on which species you choose to look at.