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75+ Best Beautiful Butterfly Captions and Quotes for Instagram

Everyone loves a butterfly. Nothing brings a smile like the flutter of a butterfly nearby. If you’re looking for the perfect caption or quote for your gorgeous butterfly images, look no further! I’ve compiled a list of the best Instagram captions!

Butterfly Photos

I love photographing butterflies. Our local botanical garden, Frederick Meijer Gardens has an annual butterfly exhibit called Butterflies Are Blooming. The gardens fill a large greenhouse with gorgeous tropical butterflies. 

Meijer Gardens offer a photography class each spring season where you can pay a small fee to go into the exhibit before it opens to the public and take pictures of the beautiful butterflies. 

Click HERE to read a story of one of my visits a few years ago that had a surprise ending!

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Monarch Inspiration

At the butterfly gardens exhibit, you get to walk through the trail of caterpillars that highlights the lifecycle of one of our beautiful local butterflies, the Monarch. This experience was so inspiring that my 13 -year-old son and I decided to try to raise our hand at raising Monarch butterflies from eggs.

We had a fantastic time watching all the stages of life, from egg to butterfly. And we took lots of photos and videos of our experience!

All those beautiful images of butterflies made me wish I had some great quotes and captions for my Instagram posts and social media. After all, I wanted to share our fun with my friends and followers!

Good news! I searched high and low for all the best quotes and captions, and now I’m sharing them with you!

But First, the Egg!

We ordered our first eggs from Monarch Watch.  We soon figured out that our backyard had its own small crop of Monarch eggs on the undersides of the Milkweed leaves. Tucker and I carefully identified and collected the leaves with Monarch eggs from the plants and brought them into the house, where we studied them and watched for signs of maturity.

We were excited to watch the first little caterpillar emerge from the egg. I even got a video of this exciting moment! It is hard to believe that these tiny black specks emerging from their eggs would turn into beautiful, graceful butterflies. But they did!

My son teased me that I was acting like a small child as I squealed with excitement over these amazing little hatchings.

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Next up – Caterpillar Life

Life as a caterpillar consists of eating and eating some more.  And then more eating.  Keeping up with the caterpillar’s appetite is a big job!  We collected wild milkweed leaves from the side of the road, brought them home and washed them, and kept them in the refrigerator so we could provide fresh food each day.

These cute tiny caterpillars went from wee babies to great big, fat caterpillars in just a couple of short weeks!

Let’s get started with a few quotes and captions about the caterpillar stage of the butterfly!

Instagram Captions About the Caterpillar

1. You must give up being a caterpillar to become a butterfly.
2. A butterfly is a caterpillar’s dream come true.
3. The change from caterpillar to butterfly is magical, filled with the freedom of a new beginning!
4. Just as a butterfly needs to go through the work of being a caterpillar to become something unique and unforgettable, you must be willing to undergo hardships and obstacles to reach your goal.
5. A butterfly is so beautiful; it’s hard to imagine it was ever a crawly caterpillar.
6. Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she began to fly.
7. Be careful how you perceive the stranger next to you. She may be a caterpillar not yet ready to be a butterfly.
8. The beauty of a butterfly reflects the destiny of the caterpillar.
9. The end for the caterpillar is just the beginning of the butterfly.
10. Life is like a butterfly; it exhibits itself more beautifully after it emerges from its cocoon.
11. Be like a butterfly, letting yourself break free from your cocoon to soar into the horizon.

The Cocoon Begins the Butterfly

After the caterpillar enjoys her brief life inching around and feasting on greenery in preparation for her metamorphosis, she will create her cocoon from the silk inside her body. Then she curls up for some deep slumber while she transforms.

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And finally, the butterfly emerges from the cocoon in glorious splendor! And yep – we captured that, too! Hooray!

The butterfly hangs from the cocoon while it pumps its wings full of fluid, getting ready to fly away in glorious freedom. After about 24-36 hours, we happily released our little friends to fly free and make more eggs, starting the life cycle process again.

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Inspirational Butterfly Quotes for Instagram from Famous Folks

After watching all of the steps, from egg to beautiful Monarch, we realized that a butterfly is the greatest symbol of change. From a tiny egg to a creepy crawly caterpillar, one of the most beautiful creatures in the world emerges, all in her own time. I think these people, many of whom you probably know, would love to say their words made a great butterfly quote for Instagram!

12. “The caterpillar does all the work, but the butterfly gets all the publicity.” – George Carlin
13. “A butterfly is not afraid of change.” – Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace
14. “This magnificent butterfly finds a little heap of dirt and sits still on it, but man will never on his heap of mud keep still.” – Joseph Conrad
15. “Butterflies are God’s confetti, thrown upon the earth in celebration of His love.” – K. D’Angelo
16. “Butterflies. Flowers that fly and all but sing.” – Robert Frost
17. “How does one become a butterfly? You have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.” _ Trina Paulus
18. “I want the experience of the butterfly.” – William Stafford
19. “‘Just living is not enough,’ said the butterfly. ‘One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.’” – Hans Christian Anderson
20. “The butterfly is a flying flower, the flower a tethered butterfly.” _ Ponce Denis Ecouchard Lebrun
21. “Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
22. “I almost wish we were butterflies and lived but three summer days… three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.” – John Keats
23. “The butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enough.” – Rabindranath Tagore
24. “When I was a girl, I would look out my bedroom window at the caterpillars; I envied them so much. No matter what they were before, no matter what happened to them, they could just hide away and turn into these beautiful creatures that could fly away completely untouched.” – Patch Adams

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And a Few More Butterfly Quotes for Instagram

25. “Life is the flower for which love is the honey. ~Victor Hugo
26. “Life is a butterfly, but you must fly with the wings you have, not the wings you wish to have.” – Viking Proverb
27. “Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.” – Henry David Thoreau
28. “Don’t chase the butterfly. Mend your garden, and let the butterfly come.” – Mario Quintana
29. “Life is short. If you doubt me, ask a butterfly. Their average life span is a mere five to fourteen days.” – Ellen DeGeneres
30. “I’ve always loved butterflies because they remind us that it’s never too late to transform ourselves.” – Drew Barrymore
31. “The butterflies… What an educated sense of beauty they have. They seem only an ornament to society, and yet, if they were gone, how substantial would be their loss.” – Phil Robinson
32. “We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it’s forever.” – Carl Sagan
33. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” – Muhammad Ali
34. “I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free.” – Charles Dickens
35. “From cocoon forth a butterfly, As lady from her door.” – Emily Dickinson
36. “The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” – Richard David Bach
37. “If nothing ever changed, there would be no such things as butterflies.” – Wendy Mass
38. “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou
39. “Death consists, indeed, in a repeated process of unrobing or unsheathing. The immortal part of man shakes off from itself, one after the other, its outer casings, and – as the snake from its skin, the butterfly from its chrysalis – emerges from one after another, passing into a higher state of consciousness.” – Annie Besant
40. “Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies. – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Butterfly Captions

So now we’ve talked about some fantastic quotes from some amazing people. Here is a list of more simplified captions for your Instagram Photos.

Butterflies are About Change

41. Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she began to fly.
42. A butterfly is a living reminder that one must be ready to undergo tremendous changes to achieve the best version of himself.
43. If there are no changes, surely there will be no butterflies.

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Butterflies are About Love

44. Love is like a butterfly – it undergoes metamorphosis to achieve its most exquisite self.
45. You still give me the butterflies.
46. Love is like a butterfly. It goes where it desires and is desired wherever it goes.

Butterflies are About Nature

47. Flowers and butterflies are cousins in nature.
48. Butterflies are like flowers with the ability to touch the sky.
49. Butterflies are the jewels of the green grass meadow as the stars are the jewels of the sky.
50. We are but butterflies in the garden of life.

Butterflies Teach us About Self-Confidence and Beauty

51. Like some people, a butterfly can’t see its own beauty.
52. Flutter your wings and fly like a butterfly.
53. Who knew there were beautiful insects? Enter the butterfly.
54. I am like a rare butterfly, too pretty to look just once yet hard to catch.
55. There’s nothing like a pair of butterfly wings to lift the spirit.
56. A butterfly is a blank canvas that was magically and magnificently splattered with all the colors of nature.
57. Never hide your wings.
58. The butterfly is the only creature that is more exquisite than the sky where it flies.
59. A butterfly reminds us that even the ugliest thing can be a beautiful thing if given time and space.

Butterflies Love Life

60. Life is like a butterfly, colorful, bright, and full of happiness. Love every moment you live.
61. And when all the wars are over, the butterfly will still be beautiful.
62. Happiness is like a butterfly. It comes and rests quietly on your shoulder when you least expect it.
63. The butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enough.
64. Oh butterfly, how can you be so beautiful and accessible at once?
65. If I could be another creature in this world, I would be a butterfly so I can experience how it is to be marvelous and free at the same time.

A Butterfly’s Wings

66. I am just winging it.
67. Butterflies are fairies in disguise, for the flutter of their wings sounds like magic.
68. Life is like a butterfly, colorful and magical, when it flaps its wings.
69. Be like a butterfly. Just keep flapping your wings, and you will be free.
70. Life is like a butterfly; it’s beautiful, colorful, and attracts much attention.
71. Be like a butterfly. Spread your wings and fly away.

Butterfly Song Lyrics

Of course, we can’t talk about butterflies without mentioning some of the most epic butterfly song lyrics from the ages. Think about these songs for inspiration when you need some captions for your social media posts.

72. Bullfrogs and Butterflies – Barry McGuire
73. Butterfly kisses – Bob Carlisle
74. Love is Like a Butterfly – Dolly Parton
75. Butterflies – Kacey Musgraves
76. Butterfly – Crazy Town

Did You Know?

I can’t leave you without a few fun facts about butterflies. Attending the annual Butterflies are Blooming exhibit at Meijer Gardens has taught me much. Raising our Monarch butterflies last year taught me even more! I am happy to share a few fun facts with you about butterflies! Did you know any of these?

77. A group of butterflies is sometimes called a “flutter.”
78. Butterflies don’t have lungs but breath through openings on their abdomen called ‘spiracles.’
79. Many adult butterflies never excrete waste because they use up all the food they eat for energy.
80. The Monarch butterfly species will lay their eggs only on Milkweed plants.
81. Butterfly wings move in a figure “8” motion that pushes the butterfly through the air.
82. Butterflies are found on every continent in the world except Antarctica.
83. Butterflies are cold-blooded; they also can’t regulate their body temperatures.

Wrapping it all Up

Next time you have a photo you’d like to share with the world, think of one of these amazing butterfly captions or quotes! And let me know if I missed any good ones by leaving a note in the comments!

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