Will purple butterflies come back?

With our conservation efforts, there is hope!

Weaving a tapestry on the firmament,

A wave of purple butterflies look back to flash us a smile.

Ecological conservation

Whenever we talk about environmental issues, we tend to do so in a grave tone of voice. And when speaking to children, we tend to avoid the topic altogether, reasoning that it would be best for the time being to shelter them from the dark side of human society. Fortunately, in recent years, nature conservation has begun to receive increasing public attention in Taiwan, and there are now a number of cases inspiring hope and optimism for the future of Taiwan’s unique and once-pristine natural environment. One of these is the case of the purple butterflies, one of only two butterfly species in the world known to make an annual north-south migration. Taiwan’s purple butterflies have recently been making a comeback, after a long period of time in decline due to a devastating combination of rapid development, habitat loss, large-scale commercial harvesting, and chemical-intensive agriculture. Over a decade, numerous farmers along their established migration routes have begun to use organic farming methods, providing purple butterflies with pure nectar free of chemical pollutants. The National Freeway Bureau has also taken measures to help them safely cross the highway. Such successful cases of wildlife and ecological conservation bring increased environmental awareness throughout our society. Thus we have made the story of Taiwan’s purple butterflies’ remarkable comeback into a picture book which imparts foundational principles of ecology and environmentalism in a lively and engaging manner.

Purple butterflies overwinter in Taiwan.

Did you know
that purple butterflies in Taiwan
fly north in the summer
and south in the winter,
like lots of birds do?
The only other butterfly known to migrate south for the winter
is the monarch butterfly in North America.
Can you guess what challenges and adventures
they face on their long journey?
Let’s fly together with purple butterflies
as they make their annual migration.

The purple butterfly's forwings display the most beautiful
purple, indigo, and blue sheens at a certain angle to the sun

In late autumn or early winter, purple butterflies fly from north to south and spend the winter in one of the warm valleys at the foot of the Central Mountain Range. Several of these are located in the Maolin district of Kaohsiung, and are collectively referred to as the “purple butterfly valley.” According to the book Butterflies published by the British Museum in 2003, Maolin ranks, along with the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in central Mexico where the eastern population of the North American monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) spend the winter, as one of the two largest butterfly overwintering sites in the world. In the past few years, various events have been held promoting butterfly watching in Taiwan, as well as awareness of the need to protect the fragile ecosystem on which their continued existence depends.

After the winter, the migrating purple butterflies begin to fly back in early spring. When they pass through Linnei Township in Yunlin County in central Taiwan, they have to cross a major freeway. Yet for many years, thousands of butterflies had been killed when the slipstream generated by fast-moving vehicles dragged them into the traffic. However, after years of pressure from environmentalists, in 2007 the National Freeway Bureau began putting up four-meter-high nets along the sections of its freeways crossed by purple butterflies during their annual migration, making them safely fly high above the traffic. The Bureau has also planted lots of tall trees next to the freeway for the same purpose, and this touching example of a government agency making an effort to protect “insignificant” butterflies garnered much media attention in Taiwan and abroad. Indeed, this public expression of concern for the natural world is something every Taiwanese can be proud of. In addition, the Linnei Township Office, the National Freeway Bureau, and Chenggong Elementary School have jointly organized the annual Purple Butterfly Festival in early April when the butterflies fly north in the next spring, and have also set up a butterfly museum at the school highlighting the resilience and perseverance of Taiwan’s purple butterflies.

The migration route of Taiwanese purple butterflies

In 2007, the National Freeway Bureau put up four-meter-high nets

for purple butterflies to cross safely.

Yielding: Butterfly crossing

Butterfly expert Chan Chia-lung stresses that visitors to Maolin must not shake the trees or throw stones while the purple butterflies are wintering there, so as not to disturb their ecological rhythms. In addition to supporting butterfly-friendly farming, we can also help by cultivating nectar plants at home (Taiwan Panorama, January 2016).

Purple butterfly species

Taiwan once had five species of purple butterflies (a.k.a. the purple crow, black crow, common crow, milkweed, and purple milkweed--with the front), but the Taiwan large crow (Euploea phaenareta) completely disappeared from the island in the 1960s due to habitat loss; around the same time Taiwan’s monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) met the same fate. The four extent species of purple butterflies are the striped blue crow (Euploea mulciber 端紫斑蝶), the blue-banded king crow (Euploea eunice 圓翅紫斑蝶), the double-branded crow (Euploea sylvester 斯氏紫斑蝶), and the dwarf crow (Euploea tulliolus 小紫斑蝶). Their forwings display the most beautiful purple, indigo, and blue sheens at a certain angle to the sun, and their underside wings are basically deep brown, enabling them to camouflage well in nature.

Image source: Maolin National Scenic Area

Environmental awareness begins with a picture book

A picture book full of imagination and excellent in both illustration and text
sparks the young imagination, inspires budding minds to explore the world,
and is a pleasure for parents and children to enjoy reading together.

Taiwan Let's fly together! The overwintering adventure of the purple butterflies is an eco-edutaining picture book which tells the story of the purple butterfly’s annual migration. The book was conceived by Professor James H. Yang at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology. While preparing the syllabus for his courses, he discovered that Chenggong Elementary School located in a remote mountainous area of Yunlin County lies directly on the purple butterfly’s migration route. Thus he has made the purple butterfly one of the main topics covered in the course. In the annual purple butterfly festival, the school pupils help introduce visitors to this remarkable species as well as the plants they have planted to provide butterflies with a safe and dependable food source. The festival also includes a variety of lively DIY activities. In fact, the school children participated in the creation of this picture book.

Poster for the Purple Butterfly Festival held in Linnei Township, Yunlin County

Students at Chenggong Elementary School being trained to serve as guides for visitors

Short film on purple butterfly education at Chenggong Elementary School

Short film on the purple butterfly brainstorming session

at Chenggong Elementary School held in 2017

Re-establishing Taiwan as the “Kingdom of Butterflies”

—It’s up to you and me.

Students at Chenggong Elementary School have grown

various plant species for caterpillars and flowers for purple butterflies.

After more than a year of hard work, we finally published our picture book. The picture book was researched and written by Professor Yang, and incorporated feedback provided by the elementary school’s principal Yang Lina and other teachers, including Huang Xiongren, Zheng Shuyu, Goldie, Mark, and Ken. Thanks are also due to the pupils at Chenggong Elementary School for their drawings and for serving as guides during the Purple Butterfly Festival. We hope that this picture book will give children a deeper understanding of crow butterflies, as well as ecology and environmentalism. Thanks are also due to the teachers at Chenggong Elementary School, especially Huang Xiongren and Zheng Shuyu, who guided their students in drawing the artwork which appears in the book. Thanks also go to the university students who provided graphic design and devised over 20 learning games: Sina, Shuohua, Weiting, Jiawei, Junyi, Peiling, Jingying, Xuanhe, Jiahe, Xintian, Yirou, Mingkuang, Aiqing, Yujie, and Zongyou. Various types of assistance were also provided by many other students, including Changjun, Jingyi, Jiawen, Yuting, Yiling, Jingyun, Ziliang, Muen, Mingkai, Chenxin, Shuting, Qiyao, Nianping, Allen, Yongxin, and Jason.

We invite your support for the publication of our picture book, as a way of protecting purple butterflies and helping to restore Taiwan’s reputation as the Kingdom of Butterflies. It’s up to everyone to insure that future generations are also able to witness the miraculous sight of a swarm of purple butterflies moving overhead, whose natural tenacity and perseverance is an inspiration for us all.

James Yang observing the larvae and chrysalis of the striped blue crow butterfly

Student at Chenggong Elementary School proudly displaying his drawing

Group photo at Chenggong Elementary School

Teachers at Chenggong Elementary School

Students at Chenggong Elementary School displaying their favorite books

Picture book preface

Purple butterflies have a maximum wingspan of ten centimeters and their wings are as thin as paper. Yet, in an amazing feat of stamina and fortitude, they fly south several hundred kilometers in November to pass the winter in the warm mountain valleys of southern Taiwan. In the next spring, they fly back from southern Taiwan to the north of the island, where they lay their eggs and die. The lifespan of a purple butterfly is nearly six months, compared to two months for most butterfly species.

Despite their delicate physique, pruple butterflies tirelessly fly to overwinter in southern Taiwan, and then return north a few months later, making them a powerful symbol of resilience and perseverance. The publicity they have received has also stimulated interest in the other butterfly species in Taiwan, some of which are threatened with extinction. It’s hoped that this book will help to encourage the government and ordinary citizens to take timely action to protect butterfly habitats and eventually restore Taiwan’s reputation as the kingdom of butterflies.

Summary of the story

The dwarf crow butterfly (Euploea tulliolus) migrates south for the winter, relying on instinct and paper-thin wings to fly over 300 kilometers, thereby insuring the continuity of the species. The heroine of the story is Little Purple, a timid dwarf crow butterfly who takes a long and arduous journey, during the course of which she overcomes all sorts of obstacles and cultivates the virtues of resourcefulness and perseverance. Based on recent developments in the environmental movement in Taiwan, this picture book introduces environmentalism in a lively and engaging manner, and is enjoyable and educational for both children and adults alike. Readers come away with not only admiration for the resilience and perseverance of the dwarf crow butterfly, but also with a greater appreciation of nature and a heightened sense of the value all that lives.

Picture book features

1. An entertaining and educational fable telling the adventures of a migrating crow butterfly.

2. A rich collection of stimulating illustrations with the fill-in-the-blank text.

3. Notes with keywords in English for increasing the reader's English vocabulary.

4. An accompanying animated short film for each illustration for enhancing reading comprehension.

5. More than 30 reading comprehension questions and over 20 learning games.

6. Recordings of the text being read in English.

Picture book story

Below are some samples of the book’s 50 illustrations with fill-in-the-blank text

depicting a purple butterfly’s adventure while migrating and overwintering,

as a way of imparting basic concepts of ecology and environmentalism.

我們一起飛吧! 紫斑蝶歷險記

Let's fly together! The overwintering adventure of a purple butterfly

　
在一個秋高氣(冷或爽)cool的清晨，有一顆微小的______ egg，即將孵化，看到沒？在新生葉的(上面或底下)underside！(One cool day in the fall, there was a tiny egg about to hatch. Can you see it? It was attached to the underside of a tender leaf.)

三天後，「啵」的一聲，裂開啦！「喀！喀！喀！」一隻______ little caterpillar使盡吃奶的力氣，鑽了出來。(Three days later—bo, ka, ka, ka—an energetic little caterpillar bored her way out. “I’m so hungry!” it said to itself, and then turned around and ate her eggshell.)

「哇！好餓喔！」牠自言自語的說，然後就迫不及待的轉過頭去，吃起了自己的______ eggshell。(But it was still hungry, so it proceeded to eat through the leaf it was hanging onto.)

「還是很______ hungry耶！」毛毛蟲四下張望，沒什麼東西吃，就在原地上，吃起了(老或嫩)葉tender leaf。(“My oh my, I’m still hungry! All I want to do is eat, eat, eat!”)

「啊！還不夠！我還要吃！吃！吃！」從早吃到晚，吃個不停。「呃！」毛毛蟲發出(打鼾或打嗝)burp的聲音說：「好飽哦！」然後就躲到葉背下，呼呼大______ sleep了。(And that’s just what it did from morning to night. When it finally had eaten enough, it belched, hid itself away underneath the leaf, and fell fast asleep.)

隔天醒來，毛毛蟲又餓了，牠繼續吃，沒多久，就把附近的葉子都吃得(完畢或精光)devour。整天吃飽睡，睡飽______ eat。(When it woke up the next day, it was hungry again, and before long it had devoured all the nearby leaves, both big and small. All day long, it ate and slept in turns.)

毛毛蟲吃呀吃！從小葉吃到大葉，身體不斷的______ grow。(And the more it ate, the bigger it grew.)

兩星期後，牠已經(拉或蛻)皮molt五次了，變成一隻又肥又胖的毛毛蟲！(After two weeks, it had molted five times. it had become a big, fat caterpillar.)

這時，一隻______ stick insect晃動的爬過來，看著牠說:「小胖，你該______ diet啦!」毛毛蟲輕輕的回了聲:「喔！好吧！」(A stick insect swaggered over to it and said, “Little Fatty, you need to go on a diet.” “OK,” replied the caterpillar softly.)

現在，牠再也不餓了，爬到______ petiole去休息。到了傍晚，牠深呼吸一下，嘴巴吐出了黏黏的絲，集結一個絲座，吐盡後，就扭動身體，開始脫皮，最後變成了一個亮晶晶的______ chrysalis，懸空倒吊著。(Actually, it was not hungry anymore, so it climbed onto a petiole and took a nap. At dusk it took a deep breath and began to spit out a sticky thread and formed it into a silkpad. Twisting about, it molted for a final time before becoming a shiny chrysalis hanging upside down.)

一星期後，天空微(光或亮)dawn，牠輕輕的咬開一個洞，緩緩的爬出_____ pupal case......(After a week or so, as dawn broke, it nibbled a hole in its pupal case and climbed out.)

Some illustrations with the fill-in-the-blank text

A frog hiding under a lotus leaf tried to catch her,
but Fai noticed the danger and swiftly flew away, gloating,
“Try as you may, you’ll never catch me!”

The beetle calmly replied, “I’m an invincible armored warrior.”
The bee Jim added, “Everybody calls him the ‘Holy Fighter.’”
Having become friends, they played together in the garden.

That night, they huddled together in a tree for warmth and protection,
looking like millions of tiny stars in the sky.

Everyone who saw the purple butterflies passing overhead
was sad to see them go, and heartily wished them a pleasant journey.

Some animated short films

Purple butterfly ecological picture book

Book cover animation

At the end of the story....

More than 30 questions for testing reading comprehension and stimulating inquiry. Below are some of the questions:

How long does it take for the egg of the purple butterfly to hatch?
How many times does the caterpillar molt (take off its skin)?
Where does the caterpillar sleep? Why?
When the chrysalis breaks out of its pupal case and turns into a butterfly, what is this process called?
......
......
Which adventure of Fai impressed you the most? Why?
How many times was Fai captured? Why did the people want to catch her?
Why was Fai not eaten by the spider?
......
......
What kind of butterfly do you think Fai is?
Why was a high net set up next to the freeway?
Some people are in favor of turning forests into nature reserves. What do you think?
......
......

Learning game pictures

Below are some samples of the 20-plus learning games for deepening the reader’s understanding of ecology and environmental issues. Do give them a try!

How many caterpillars of the striped blue butterflies?

How many blue-banded king butterflies do you see?

Around sunset butterflies fly up in groups.
Can you make out the blue-banded king butterfly in this picture?

Listening together

The story of the purple butterfly inspires us to care for the natural environment where we live. After completion of this book we hope to visit schools to tell our picture book story, play games, and share experiences as a way of advocating for further protection of purple butterflies and highlighting the value and meaning of life.

Written in a readily comprehensible style, the story is enjoyable and educational for children and adults alike to understand the ecology of the purple butterfly overwintering migration. Once the book was completed in June 2018, Professor Yang led a team of students from National Yunlin University of Science and Technology in conducting a series of related environmental protection events. Over the course of more than a year, they have held some 25 events at over ten venues in Yunlin, Chiayi, and Tainan Counties, including rural elementary schools, cultural centers, libraries, and bookstores. Over 100 university students participated in these events, during the course of which they gained valuable teaching experience and learned community service skills. Over 500 elementary school students participated in this educational program, thereby becoming the future vanguard of community-based environmental protection in Taiwan. The university students gained practical experience and a sense of accomplishment, the kids learned a lot while enjoying the games, and the teachers were pleased with the results.

After using the funding platform flyingV to raise funds, the book was published in cooperation with the Formosan Golden Bat’s Home. The book has been donated to rural elementary schools throughout Taiwan, as a way of inculcating environmental values from an early age. In addition to the program volunteers, over one thousand complimentary copies of the book have been donated to more than 20 elementary schools and environmental organizations, including the Taiwan Purple Crow Butterfly Ecological Preservation Association and the Ecology Education Center of Pingdong County.

Testing reading comprehension