The
Lifecycle of a Butterfly
Butterfly are part of the class in
the order ledhipora. Butterfly are a popular motif in the visual and litely
arts, because butterflys have different color. And have “complete
metamorphosis”
Let’s explore a butterfly’s life
cycle in detail, including all four stages of life. All butterflies have
"complete metamorphosis." To grow into an adult they go through 4
stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Each stage has a different goal - for
instance, caterpillars need to eat a lot, and adults need to reproduce.
Depending on the type of butterfly, the life cycle of a butterfly may take
anywhere from one month to a whole year.
- The First Stage:(The Egg)
Butterfly
Eggs on a Leaf
A butterfly starts life as a very small, round, oval or
cylindrical egg. The coolest thing about butterfly eggs, especially
monarch butterfly eggs, is that if you look close enough you can actually see
the tiny caterpillar growing inside of it. Some butterfly eggs may be round,
some oval and some may be ribbed while others may have other features. The egg
shape depends on the type of butterfly that laid the egg.
Butterfly eggs are usually laid on
the leaves of plants, so if you are actively searching for these very tiny
eggs, you will have to take some time and examine quite a few leaves in order
to find some.
- The Second Stage: The Larva
(Caterpillar)
Butterfly Caterpillar
When the egg finally hatches, most of you would expect for a
butterfly to emerge, right? Well, not exactly. In the butterfly’s
life cycle, there are four stages and this is only the second stage.
Butterfly larvae are actually what we call caterpillars. Caterpillars do not
stay in this stage for very long and mostly, in this stage all they do is
eat.
When the egg hatches, the
caterpillar will start his work and eat the leaf they were born onto. This is
really important because the mother butterfly needs to lay her eggs on the type
of leaf the caterpillar will eat – each caterpillar type likes only certain
types of leaves. Since they are tiny and can not travel to a new plant, the
caterpillar needs to hatch on the kind of leaf it wants to eat.
Caterpillars need to eat and eat so
they can grow quickly. When a caterpillar is born, they are extremely small.
When they start eating, they instantly start growing and expanding. Their
exoskeleton (skin) does not stretch or grow, so they grow by “molting” (sheding
the outgrown skin) several times while it grows.
- The Third Stage: Pupa (Chrysalis)
Caterpillar Becoming a Chrysalis
The pupa stage is one of the coolest stages of a butterfly’s
life. As soon as a caterpillar is done growing and they have reached
their full length/weight, they form themselves into a pupa, also known as a
chrysalis. From the outside of the pupa, it looks as if the caterpillar
may just be resting, but the inside is where all of the action is. Inside
of the pupa, the caterpillar is rapidly changing.
Monarch Caterpillar Becoming a
Chrysalis
Now, as most people know, caterpillars are short, stubby and
have no wings at all. Within the chrysalis the old body parts of the
caterpillar are undergoing a remarkable transformation, called ‘metamorphosis,’
to become the beautiful parts that make up the butterfly that will emerge.
Tissue, limbs and organs of a caterpillar have all been changed by the time the
pupa is finished, and is now ready for the final stage of a butterfly’s life
cycle.
- The Fourth Stage: (Adult Butterfly)
Butterfly Emerging from a Chrysalis
Finally, when the caterpillar has done all of its forming
and changing inside the pupa, if you are lucky, you will get to see an adult
butterfly emerge. When the butterfly first emerges from the chrysalis,
both of the wings are going to be soft and folded against its body. This is
because the butterfly had to fit all its new parts inside of the pupa.
Watch a Monarch Hatching
As soon as the butterfly has rested after coming out of the
chrysalis, it will pump blood into the wings in order to get them working and
flapping – then they get to fly. Usually within a three or four-hour period,
the butterfly will master flying and will search for a mate in order to
reproduce. When in the fourth and final stage of their lives, adult butterflies
are constantly on the look out to reproduce and when a female lays their eggs
on some leaves, the butterfly life cycle will start all over.
