Weeding Thoughts: Interview with a Butterfly

Black Morph Tiger Swallow. Photo by Isabel B.

Disclaimer! I have never had a productive conversation with a caterpillar, nor asked them a question I received an actual answer to. What you are about to read is based on scientific research done by others and connections I made in my own brain. Please proceed at your own risk.

July 28th, 2027 

9:00am

Isabel: This is my tape recorder, when the little red light is on it just means that it’s recording. Why don’t you start with a quick introduction and then we can dive into the questions?

Elise: Okay. Um, hi, my name is Elise and I’m a black morph of the Tiger Swallowtail. My favorite flower is any coneflower and today is my eighth day as a butterfly. Is there anything else I should add?

Isabel: No, that was perfect. Can you talk a little bit about the life cycle of a Tiger Swallowtail? 

Elise: Of course. We only live for a couple weeks and my job during that time is to lay eggs. Tiger Swallowtails prefer to lay eggs on native trees, like wild black willow, ash trees, and cottonwoods. Not all butterflies are just into milkweed, but I do enjoy it on rare occasions. Once my eggs hatch, the caterpillars will go through five instars, or molts. At first looking like bird droppings, then gaining a beautiful green color with black and yellow bands, just like their mom did, before it’s time for the big change. I started to form my chrysalis on a plum tree and was perfectly camouflaged into the trunk of the tree.

Tiger Swallow Caterpillar. Photo by Isabel B.

Isabel: Camouflaged into the tree trunk?

Elise: Yes, I wasn’t going to stay bright green in my most vulnerable state. A Tiger Swallowtail chrysalis looks like a small stick poking out from its host tree.

Isabel: Wow, that’s incredible. How do you remember all of this?

Elise: The same way you do? It’s a bit foggy at the beginning, in the bird poop stage, but most of my life I remember. Don’t you?

Isabel: Yes, I remember most of my life. I thought that once you go through metamorphosis-

Elise: The big change.

Isabel: Right, the big change. Your whole biological make up is changing, most would assume that your brain is changing as well. 

Elise: Do humans’ brains change completely from the time they’re a baby to adulthood?

Isabel: They expand, but the makeup is still the same. We gain new experiences and new knowledge rapidly forming new neural pathways, thus expanding.

Elise: Exactly, I change and my brain changes, but it’s still mine. I still have my memories and knowledge from surviving as a caterpillar. 

Isabel: Butterflies can retain information like that?

Elise: Are you sure you’re qualified to be interviewing me?

Isabel: Yes, I’m more than qualified to be conducting this interview. There are things that, as a human, you just don’t think about.

Elise: Interesting. Well I remember my brothers and sisters, watching other Tiger Swallowtails fly around us, and the shadow of my mother as she flew back over us to make sure we had hatched.

Isabel: You remember your mom?

Elise: Of course I do. Most insects know they have a mom. We all have to come from somewhere. Do you remember your mom?

Isabel: Obviously I remember my mom. 

Elise: Exactly. Like you said, there are things that humans don’t think about as much as they should. 

Isabel: Could you elaborate?

Elise: I guess, but after this I really should be going. Two weeks as a butterfly isn’t a whole lot of time and I have an endless list of chores. 

Isabel: That’s totally okay, I’m more than grateful you were even able to sit with me for this long. 

Elise: You’re welcome. This next bit might get a bit complicated, so stop me if it’s hard to follow. Every brain on this planet is composed of the same proteins and has the same basic structure. We all have the ability to learn new things, form neural pathways, and communicate. Contrary to popular belief, size does not matter. Your brain is bigger because you have more muscles and bodily functions to control. The extra space allows the diversification of neural pathways, giving you humans things like boredom, storytelling, and the ability to create complex tools. I may not have unlocked all the same abilities as you, but I understand the premise of most of it. Is this still making sense?

Isabel: Yes, it is.

Elise: Good. My brain is much, much smaller than yours. I don’t have the space for my neurons to diversify and give me any other functions than basic ones. I have my memory, communication skills, and instincts. Beyond that, there isn’t much else I need. Think of all the time I would waste in two weeks if I got caught up in everything humans do. I am not less than you or anything like that. Our brains are basically the same. 

Just a caterpillar hanging around. Photo by Isabel B.

Isabel: Do you wish you had access to more?

Elise: It’s hard to miss something you’ve never had. With such a short life span I focus on keeping myself alive and laying eggs. Who knows what could happen? On day three I could be smushed under a shoe or fly into a windshield. 

Isabel: I’m sorry about shoe smushing, I try to at least get the insect back outside without killing it.

Elise: Look, it’s not my job to convince humans that they need to go out of their way for every little bug they come across. I came here to tell my story and spread the awareness that there is more going on in this world than you know. Bees can learn more new skills than I can count, ants form unstoppable social hierarchies, and almost all insects are aware they have a mom. And those are the beings with the smallest brains. Imagine what a rabbit is capable of, or even an annoying seagull. Only viewing the world through a human perspective would be very limiting, but that’s just my opinion.

Isabel: Wow, um, I don’t really know what to say.

Elise: Then this would probably be a good stopping point for the interview. I have a busy day ahead of me and not a whole lot of time. 

Isabel: Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to me and I’ll see you around.

Elise: You’re welcome.

Where I talk to the butterflies. Photo by Isabel B.

After the interview was over I sat in the garden for a while, tucked into the shade of an apple tree and across from the milkweed we had let take over a couple of walk ways. A baby crow cried out for its mother, chipmunks fought over a rotten apple in the grass, and black striped gophers weaved in between hidden tunnels.

How much of the world was I missing? Since I was a little girl I had dreamed of my stuffed animals having feelings, talking to one another, and treated them with the utmost affection. My sister and I played fairy games where the two of us made the woods our home and spoke to the animals and bugs we were not afraid of. There was not a single time I had thought about their brains. Bees dancing to communicate with one another is common knowledge and ants had to have some way of signaling where the food was. To learn that the structure of an insect’s brain, a bird’s brain, a fish’s brain, was the same as mine? I could hardly wrap my head around it. 

The crow cried out again and I tried to imagine what it was saying. Then the call repeated and I felt a pang of annoyance before I could stop it. To view the world through a human perspective would be very limiting. This planet was not made for sole human inhabitance. Behind every other species was a web of communication and structures I could not even begin to fathom. 

Nothing is as simple as it seems.

This blog was written by Isabel Bundy, HDT’s 2026 summer garden assistant. Want to know more about sustainable living topics, events, and happenings? Sign up for Happy Dancing Turtle’s eNewsletter.