Butterfly

Butterflies are flying insects that appear in many games in Mario series and usually do so in groups. There are also many creatures that have a similar appearance to a butterfly.

Super Mario 64
In Super Mario 64, there are a few stages (as well as outside Princess Peach's Castle) where there are Butterflies flying around. When Mario punches or goes near one, one of two things will happen: the Butterfly will either turn into a 1-Up Mushroom or become a black sphere and chase Mario until it hits him or hits something in its way; in either situation, it explodes. In this game, Butterflies are purple with white spots on their wings.

Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, Yoshi could eat certain types of butterflies to get different items. Yellow Butterflies yield regular coins, blue Butterflies yield Blue Coins, and green Butterflies yield 1-Up Mushrooms. In this game, Butterflies are usually found fluttering around in groups, and are rarely by themselves like in Super Mario 64.

Super Mario Galaxy
Some butterflies are seen fluttering around Grand Finale Galaxy. They serve no purpose whatsoever and are only there for decoration.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
In this game, a number of shimmering golden Butterflies appear on the Starting Planet in the Sky Station Galaxy (three also appear on the Peewee Geo Planet later in the galaxy), but only while Co-Star Mode is active. The player can use the Co-Star Luma to spin the Butterflies in the same way as they would any other object. When spun, each Butterfly will release three Star Bits each, after which they will completely disappear. They will also disappear the second that Co-Star mode is deactivated, though when it is used again, they will return. If spun by the Co-Star Luma, they will be gone for good. These golden Butterflies also appear on the Earth Planet, the Yoshi Tower Planet, the Fossil Planet, the Solar System Planet, and the Cone Planet in the Yoshi Star Galaxy.

A different variety of Butterfly also appears on the Stone Mountains Planet in the Fluffy Bluff Galaxy. These particular Butterflies are purple in color, and cannot be affected by the Co-Star Luma, and apparently not by anything else either. For this reason, they appear to be present only for decoration, as they serve no apparent purpose otherwise.

Super Mario 3D Land
Butterflies also appear in some levels of Super Mario 3D Land. These particular Butterflies have different colors, and cannot be affected by the player. For this reason, they appear to be used only for decoration, as they serve no apparent purpose.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Butterflies made their first appearance in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where they only appear as part of the scenery and have no major purpose. Also, a type of Butterfly enemy called Flutter appears, which is a Wiggler (a caterpillar enemy) with wings.

Yoshi's Story
In Yoshi's Story, Butterflies reappear as part of the scenery, however numerous Butterfly sub-species such as the Teehee Butterfly and the Power Bee (known as Happiness Butterfly in Japan) appear as edible health restoring creatures.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Butterflies first appear in the opening with Princess Peach right before she is kidnapped. They later appear as part of the scenery in some areas of the game.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Butterflies are found inhabited in Petalburg.

Super Paper Mario
Tippi in her Pixl form resembles a butterfly. She is called a digibutterfly by Francis, who is a fan of anime, video games, butterflies and other "schweet" things.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, a caterpillar-like creature named Durmite appears as a boss twice in the game, however during the second fight it is revealed that her real name is Wisdurm and that she is a actually a legendary Star Sage and after being beaten the second time she turns into a Butterfly. Also in the game a species of Snifit with Butterfly wings appears during battles with Flifits.

Mario Party
Butterflies also made a small appearance in Mario Party; they are shown on the minigame Ground Pound.

Mario Party 4
They later appear in Mario Party 4 in the mini-game Butterfly Blitz. They have a small but major role; they are worth points when characters catch them. There are three kinds of butterflies that give players points to win; Yellow Butterflies are worth at least one point, Red Butterflies are worth two points, and Blue Butterflies are worth a whopping three points.

Mario Party 8
A Butterfly also made a very brief appearance in the Mario Party 8 mini-game "At the Chomp Wash". When a Chain Chomp sees it, the butterfly causes the Chain Chomp to knock over several buckets of paint.