Butterflies have invaded the Lowcountry. Here’s how to help them survive.

Fall marks a spectacular time of year for butterfly lovers in the Lowcountry, when burnt orange and bright yellow butterfly wings seem to be sprinkling the sky in every direction.

Late September is peak season for migrating butterflies making their way through coastal South Carolina and , according to Carlos Chacon, manager of natural history at the Coastal Discovery Museum.

“Thousands of butterflies stop through during their migration south between September and early November,” Chacon said.

Chacon said the Lowcountry sees thousands of monarch, gulf fritillary, and cloudless sulphur butterflies as they stop in the area on their way to Florida.

“Butterflies typically only live for two weeks,” Chacon said. “They are moving south and on the way, laying eggs. Some might make it to tropical weather, some might die on the way.”

Butterflies are coldblooded and need warm temperatures, typically above 70 degrees, to survive.

Chacon said butterfly populations have declined over the last decade. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, 2016 was the first promising year for the monarch butterfly in the last decade, with 150 million recorded after an alarming count of 42 million in 2015 raised concerns about extinction due to climate change, pesticide use and construction development.

If you want to help butterflies, plant flowers they need to survive and procreate, Chacon said.

“Monarchs need milkweed to lay their eggs, but you have to plant the right kind,” he said. “If you plant tropical milkweed, you must cut it down for the winter or it could spread disease in the butterfly called OE. Native milkweed is good for the monarchs.”

Gulf fritillaries, the area’s most common butterfly this time of the year, require passionflower for survival. Cloudless sulphur butterflies need cassia for reproduction.

“Adult butterflies feed off all sorts of nectar, so any flower plants help,” Chacon said.

This story was originally published September 27, 2016 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Butterflies have invaded the Lowcountry. Here’s how to help them survive.."