The Life Cycle of a Butterfly: How They Grow and Change? Butterflies are such beautiful creatures. They come in many different colors, shapes, and sizes. Some of them can be found all over the world, while others only live in certain regions or countries.
But what is it like to be a butterfly? What do they eat? How do they grow from an egg into butterflies we see flying around?
The Life Cycle of a Butterfly
The butterfly life cycle is a fascinating thing to watch! They are born from eggs, they go through three stages before maturing into an adult butterfly which can fly away when fully formed.
Butterfly Eggs
Butterflies start their life as an egg. The eggs are laid by the female butterfly on a leaf or flower in order to do this, she will usually lay her eggs one at a time and then move on to another plant. After about 12 days of development inside the egg, the little caterpillar begins its journey out into the world
Butterfly Caterpillar
The caterpillar is the first stage in a butterfly’s life. Caterpillars are usually green or brown and can be found on almost any type of leaf, this allows them to blend into their surroundings to avoid predators. It will feed mainly on plants leaves for
Butterfly Pupae
The Pupae is the final stage of a caterpillar’s life cycle. They usually live in groups and hang from their silk thread, they are called pupae because they look like little cocoons with an open end that is facing upwards while waiting for their transformation. Some people call this a chrysalis.
Butterfly Emergence
The emergence process begins when it climbs out of its old larval skin and climbs around to find a mate. If it is female, the butterfly will need to release pheromones so males can smell her and she can attract them for mating. After they have mated, females usually lay their eggs on plants near where it emerged and then die.
The butterfly life cycle is a fascinating thing to watch! They are born from eggs, they go through four stages before maturing into an adult butterfly which can fly away when fully formed.
Butterfly Life Cycle Conclusion
I hope this article has been helpful to you and answered some of your questions about the life cycle of a butterfly.
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Butterfly Gardens
A fun thing to do as a family is to create a butterfly garden – where you can attract, feed, and observed these critters in their natural habitat. (link to tray to garden’s butterfly garden post)
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