Is there a trick (without having to blatantly cheat) in finding this specific butterfly? Tried looking for it, (werewolf have it) hunting down and (casting) converting with a ritual but no luck

Nraas has a list of which spawners spawn which items - could be helpful in locating certain hard to find butterflies (if you find one that spawns one of the more valuable butterflies, this is more likely to spawn the one you want - in your case Epic, High 1+2 and Med 1).
https://www.nraas.net/community/Mis...ateorgized-Tips

There's also the Collection Helper Lifetime Reward, which can be handy.
Or the maps here: https://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/...ecting/maps.php

(I haven't played TS3 much the past years, but back when I did I remember the map trick was very helpful)

If you're searching for a particular thing for a set task, I think you sometimes get hovertext on some of the spawners, to tell you where to find those items.

I did use collection helper, which I searched everywhere for those damn butterflies that age instant elixir requires. Hovertext only appears if you hover on their aquarium thing, which of course is what I'm seeking to collect in the first place. I might try and see if that nrass thing can help me. Thanks