My Uncle Matt used to collect butterflies. He would catch them and display them in glass cases in his study. I was often amazed when looking at those beautiful winged insects. One of my hobbies today is watching butterflies flying free in the wild and enjoying the many patterns formed by their colorful wings and graceful flight.

Uncle Matt told me lots of interesting facts about butterflies. For example, he told me that butterflies have four wings, not just two. They flap their wings more slowly than many other insects. However, this means that they can fly farther. During the summer, butterflies flying through the Arctic, where the sun never sets, will fly 24 hours a day. Many butterflies migrate very long distances. Monarch butterflies, for example, can travel 4,000 to 4,800 kilometers from Mexico to the northern part of the United States in a single year.

Adult butterflies do not grow. They also don't chew. They can't because they do not have a mouth. They use a long proboscis that is like a thin drinking straw. They use this long "straw" to sip water from damp patches, and they feed primarily on nectar from flowers. Some butterflies also derive nourishment from pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt. Butterflies are also delicate. During storms, they must hide from the rain in trees and shrubs, or they may get killed.

There are over 15,000 species of butterflies in the world today. Unfortunately, that number is decreasing. Their declining population is due to pollution and loss of habitat.

我的麥特叔叔過去常收集蝴蝶，他會把捕捉到的蝴蝶陳列在書房的玻璃箱中。這些美麗的有 翅昆蟲常令我嘆為觀止。如今我的其中一個嗜好，就是在野外看著蝴蝶自由地飛翔，欣賞牠們多采多姿的翅膀，和優美的飛行所構成的不同圖案。

麥特叔叔告訴我許多關於蝴蝶的趣事。舉例來說，他告訴我蝴蝶有四隻翅膀，而不是兩隻；牠們拍動翅膀的速度比很多其他昆蟲還慢，但這也表示牠們能夠飛得比較遠。夏天時，蝴蝶可以一天連飛24個小時，飛越日不落的北極圈。許多蝴蝶會進行長距離的遷移，例如，帝王斑蝶能在一年內飛行4,000到4,800公里，從墨西哥飛到美國北方。

成蝶不會再長大，也不能咀嚼食物，因為牠們沒有嘴巴，只有一根長長、像細吸管一樣的虹 吸管，蝴蝶用這個長「吸管」從潮濕的地面啜飲水分，並且主要以花蜜為食。有些蝴蝶會從花粉、樹汁、腐爛的水果、糞肥和濕土裡已分解的礦物中獲取養分。蝴蝶也很嬌弱，在暴風雨來襲時，牠們必須在樹林或灌木叢中躲雨，否則可能會喪命。

今日，全世界共有超過一萬五千種蝴蝶。可惜這個數量正在逐漸減少當中。汙染與棲息地的流失，使得蝴蝶的數量越來越少。