Terms of use

Last updated: 18 September 2026

By reading FlutterBy you agree to the terms on this page. They are deliberately short, because this is a reference site and not a service you sign up for. If you do not accept them, the remedy is simply not to use the site.

Informational only — not professional advice

Everything here describes butterflies and plants as we have observed and read about them, and it is offered for general information. It is not horticultural, agricultural, veterinary, medical or legal advice, and it is no substitute for a qualified professional or for your local extension service.

That matters most in two places. First, plant selection: whether a species is native, invasive, allergenic or restricted varies enormously by region, and local rules override anything written here. Second, pesticides and herbicides: nothing on this site is guidance on what to apply, at what rate, or whether a product is legal where you live. Always read and follow the product label and the regulations that apply to you. If you handle a caterpillar or any other organism, do so knowing that some species have defensive hairs or secretions that irritate skin.

Accuracy and errata

We try to keep wingspans, ranges, host plants and bloom months accurate, and we cite the kind of source a reader can check. Errors still happen: taxonomy is revised, common names differ by country, and a plant sold under one name is sometimes another species entirely. The same applies to timing — a bloom month that holds in one climate can be two months out in another.

If you find a mistake, tell us at [email protected] and we will correct it. Corrections are made to the page itself; we do not quietly delete pages to hide an error.

Intellectual property

The text and the wing and planting-plan illustrations on this site are ours, and they are protected by copyright. You may quote a short passage with a link back to the page it came from, and you may print a page for your own garden use. You may not republish whole pages, resell the text or the illustrations, feed them to a content farm, or present them as your own work. The species names and the underlying facts are, of course, nobody's property.

Third-party links

We link to outside resources when they are genuinely useful — conservation bodies, seed suppliers, botanical references. We do not control those sites, we do not endorse everything on them, and we are not responsible for their content, their accuracy, their stock or their conduct. A link is a pointer, not a guarantee.

No warranty

The site is provided as it is and as it is available. We make no warranty that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or complete, and we are not liable for any loss arising from reliance on it — including a planting that fails, a plant that turns out to be the wrong species, or a site that is unreachable when you want to check it. To the extent the law allows, we exclude liability for indirect and consequential loss. Nothing here limits rights you have under mandatory consumer law in your own jurisdiction.

Advertising

This site carries advertising, including through Google AdSense. Advertisers have no influence over what we write; the placement of an ad next to an article is automated and is not an endorsement of the advertiser by us or of us by the advertiser. How advertising cookies work is described in the privacy policy.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the site changes. The date at the top of the page shows when they were last revised. Continuing to use the site after a revision means you accept the revised terms.

Contact

Questions about these terms: [email protected].