Can butterflies survive underwater for a little while?

I'm not planning to do this by the way. I'm just writing a poem and wondering if this is possible. Can butterflies survive underwater for a little while? Or will they just drown? The water in question will likely be in nature - a lake, river, or the ocean. And it would only be for a few seconds. No strong currents or anything are being factored in - I know their wings are delicate in comparison. In this hypothetical situation the water is not strong enough to cause wing damage. So will they be okay underwater very briefly? I guess I just figured since they can survive rain then just maybe. . .

Let me know!

Many species of insects can handle a quick bob under water... but really, I have no idea.

Call the Magic Wings Butterfly House and ask a lepidopterist.
http://www.ncmls.org/exhibits/magic-wings-butterfly-house
(919) 220-5429

Since thier butterflies they don't know to hold their breath and even if they did they would not last more than a few seconds. If you put a butterfly underwater, it would probably drown almost immidiatley.

Butterflies don't have lungs. They control their oxygen intake by opening and closing tiny spiracles all over their bodies with muscle contractions and are capable of expelling materials from them. As well as they survive floods, I suspect they are capable of lasting much longer than a few seconds under water but they would be unable to fly until they dry off. Give it a tiny towel. :-)

I was swimming laps last night in my pool, I had goggles on and noticed a fully open winged butterfly at the very bottom of the pool. I do not know how long it was there before I got in because we were gone all weekend, but I swam laps for at least 20 to 25 minutes. When I got out I got the net and got it out, fixed the end of one of its wings that had folded over and set it on the warm cement. It was alive! I brought it over to one of my planters put it in the dirt in the shade where it would be protected from the environment. Checked on it off and on for a few hours, eventually it had flown away.