How long do butterflies or moths live?
This question often means “how long can an ADULT butterfly or moth live.” The question of how long a butterfly or moth can live during its entire life cycle (from egg through to adult) has a different answer. Some of the longest living adult butterflies include the migrating fall generation of the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus). They may emerge in August (or even July) of one year, migrate from the United States or Canada to the mountains of middle Mexico, spend the winter there, and then fly down out of the mountains, mate, and lay eggs when it starts to warm up the next year. So the adults can be alive for six to seven months. There are a number of butterflies that “hibernate” over winter as adults, so, basically by default, can survive for several months. The Mourning Cloak/Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa) is a classic example of one of the adult hibernators. Species like this may actually be seen flying around during warm days in the winter, even in places like southern
