Richard McLaughlin, age 7, of Sioux City, Iowa, for his question:

Do butterflies fly very high?

Most butterflies live only a few days, just long enough to lay their eggs. They flutter around to find the right plants so that the caterpillars will have the right food when they hatch. Some of the parent butterflies fly up into the branches of trees and shrubs to sleep and shelter from the rain. But most of them stay close to the ground, where they can lay their eggs in weedy grasses    or among the precious vegetables in our gardens.

Butterflies look very fragile. But they can zoom along faster than you can run and often fly as high as the tree tops. Sometimes the wind whisks them higher, maybe as high as the clouds. But this is an accident. They plan to spend their few busy days near the ground, where their favorite plants grow. Some butterflies live through the winter. In the fail, they flock hundreds of miles to where the weather is warmer. Most of the way they fly at tree top level    unless the breezes accidentally send them soaring into the sky.