Those who attended the recent Senior Connections meeting at Conestoga Mennonite Church may have been surprised to see a tent set up in the church's fellowship hall. But they soon learned that once inside, they would be able to experience interacting with live butterflies that were brought to the meeting by Donna-Joy Jones of Hatfield, who raises butterflies as a hobby.

Known as the Butterfly Lady, Jones was a kidney donor during the pandemic, after which she hosted a butterfly release as way to honor God for the gift of life. The butterfly release was designed to bring joy to the community, which was experiencing the isolation of the COVID lockdown, and to raise awareness of organ donation.

Since then, Jones has enjoyed raising butterflies as a hobby and sharing information about the creatures with local audiences, including church groups and senior citizens.

She began the program at the Senior Connections meeting by talking about the parts of the butterfly, including its wings and antennae, explaining that the differences between a moth and a butterfly are that moths are fuzzy and their antennae are different. "Butterflies have circles on the end of their antennae and there is no fuzz," Jones stated. "(Although moths can be seen during the day), a moth usually comes out at night and is drawn to the light."

She noted that there are 17,000 butterfly species in the world. "Most of them are in the rainforest and in Mexico and places far from here," said Jones. "Some of it has to do with temperatures and their (life) cycles and (lack of) food between the milkweed and flowers not being there."

Jones raises painted lady butterflies, which are similar to monarchs but have a much smaller wingspan and only live for two weeks. She purchases the butterflies online.

"I never keep any of the butterflies more than a week. If they are in bad condition, I keep them inside and when I think it's time, I will take them out and put them in my butterfly bush to keep them away from the birds," she shared. "Because they have such a short life span, the whole idea is to get them out there to multiply and keep the next cycle going."

She emphasized that homeowners should plant flowers like butterfly bushes and milkweed that are rich with pollen. "If you are gardener, plant flowers that help the butterflies. Since they are pollinators and now endangered, it's important that we do our part to help the butterflies because without butterflies and bees we don't have any food," she stated. "Their purpose is to pollinate and keep food on our tables."

She then outlined the life stages of a butterfly, explaining that butterflies lay eggs on a host plant, like parsley, fennel, milkweed or dill. When the egg hatches, it becomes a caterpillar, which then lives on a host plant. After 10 days, the caterpillar leaves the host plant, attaches to a tree or building and spins a cocoon called a chrysalis from which it emerges a butterfly.

"They are totally transformed," she said. "They emerge a different species altogether. Then they get to fly and to soar."

She then discussed monarch butterflies, which, like birds, fly south for the winter. Monarchs migrate south to winter sites in Mexico, sometimes traveling more than 30 miles in a day. "The monarchs take part in an eight-month journey, so they live nine to 12 months," she noted. "They (travel) from Canada and different parts of the U.S."

The program concluded with attendees, many of whom brought their children and grandchildren to the meeting, being given an opportunity to interact with the painted lady butterflies. Jones put a sugar and water mixture meant to simulate nectar on cotton balls, which she handed to attendees as they entered the tent.

Jones also provided some instructions such as not touching the butterflies' wings. "They will fly around the enclosure, and if I could ask you not to (swat) at them when they land on you," she said. "When they do land, they just (give) a little tickle. Sometimes they will land on your nose; the record for that is 20 minutes. If you washed your hair with a fragrant shampoo or a fruit-smelling one, they will land in your hair."

"They are harmless, and I think they enjoy interaction with us as much as we do with them," she added.

Senior Connections, open to all seniors age 55 and over, meets at Conestoga Mennonite Church, 2779 Main St. (Route 23), Morgantown, on the first Thursday of the month. Each session features a homemade meal held at noon, followed by a program.