Lepidoptera Literature: Myths, Folklore, Legends, & Sayings

This is only a partial listing, and will become more comprehensive as time allows. However, it is a good starting point for researchers and those interested in Lepidoptera lore.

• American Museum of Natural History. (1999). Pueblo butterfly dance. Pulse of the Nation, http://www.pulseplanet.com/archive/Mar99/1838.html, Program 1838.
• Baca, A. (1999). Benito’s bizcochitos / Los bizcochitos de Benito.
• Beeman, W. O. The elusive butterfly. http://www.trismegistos.com/IconicityInLanguage/Articles/Beeman.html.
• Bonach, A. (1994). Butterflies in Irish folklore. Temple Terrace, Florida: House Shadow Drake. http://www.traditionalwitchcraft.org/celtic/butterfly.html.
• Butterflies in mythology. (2004). Coconut Creek, Florida: City of Coconut Creek. http://www.creekgov.net/archives/000310.asp.
• Carle, E. (1981). The very hungry caterpillar. New York: Philomel.
• Cherry, R. (1997). Native American mythology. cedigest, Fourth, http://www.insects.org/ced4/mythology.html.
• Courlander, H., & Prempeh, A. K. (1957). The hat-shaking dance and other tales from the gold coast. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.
• Dai, F. (2000). A tale of the Chinese Romeo and Juliet. Dumont, New Jersey: Homa & Sekey Books.
• Dali - the butterfly spring. htp://www.glorybeedee.com/butterflyspring.htm.
• Dawavendewa, G. The butterfly dance. Washington, D.C. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution.
• Dunn, D. K. Minibeast folklore. Lansing MI: Young Entomologists Society. http://members.aol.com/YESedu/folklore.html.
• Keeshig-Tobias, L. (1994). The trickster: running for the people, carrying fire for the people. Research Study prepared for RCAP.
• Kent, J. (1982). The caterpillar and the polliwog. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.
• Khandro. (2005). The butterfly. http://www.khandro.net/animal_butterfly.htm.
• Kusugak, J. (1993). Meeting on the trickster’s ground. Ottawa, Ontario:  Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ch/rcap/sg/sg53_e.html.
• Lynch-Brown, C., & Tomlinson, C. M. (1993) Essentials of children’s literature. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
• MacDonald, M. R. (1982). The storyteller’s sourcebook: A subject, title, and motif index to folklore collections for children. Detroit: Neil-Schuman.
• Manos-Jones, M. (2000). The spirit of butterflies: Myth, magic, and art. New York: Henry N. Abrams.
• Russell, S. A. (2003). An obsession with butterflies: Our long love affair with a singular insect. Cambridge, MA: Perseus.
• Schappert, P. (2003). A word for butterflies. http://www.aworldforbutterflies.com/book.htm.
• Stangl, J. (1984). Paper stories.  Fearon.
• Take our word for it. (2005). http://www.takeourword.com/index.html.
• Taylor, H. P. (1995). Coyote and the laughing butterflies. New York: Macmillan Books for Young Readers.
• Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Resources for librarians – bibliography. (2003). http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/projects/trc/bibs/2003/.
• TKL. (2002). Taiwan: Legend of the butterfly lovers. http://www.spcnet.tv/taiwan_butterfly.shtml.
• Yep, L. (1989). The rainbow people. New York: Harper Trophy.
• Zhang, J. Some Miao folklore – butterfly pattern. Atlanta, GA: Marla Mallett Textiles. http://www.marlamallett.com/miaofolklore.htm.