Interesting Facts/ Few lines on Butterfly

Interesting Facts/ Few lines on Butterfly
  • The butterfly is a beautiful and colorful insect with two pairs of scale covered wings. 
  • There are more than 17,000 kinds of butterflies in the world.
  • Butterflies are good fliers and only fly during the day.
  • Butterflies rest with their wings held together vertically above the back over the body.

Features of Butterfly:

  • Butterflies have three basic parts like other insects: the head, thorax and abdomen. 
  • They have slender bodies covered with tiny sensory hairs. 
  • They also have two pairs of large, scaly wings, which are triangular in shape.  They have a pair of forewings and another pair of hind wings supported by veins.
  • Their brightly multi-colored wings of butterflies are a feast of colors.  They look so attractive, fascinating and heavenly because of these colors.
  • Butterflies fly, flutter and enjoy nectar on the flowers at day time.
  • Butterflies have compound eyes and a tube-like organ in the mouth for sucking in liquid.  Butterflies usually feed on nectar from plants.  However, some feed on rotting fruits to sip nutrients from the soil. 
  • They have a keen sense of taste, smell and sight.  They have smelling organs on their antennae.  They have noses to smell located on their feet.
  • Butterflies “taste” with their feet to find out whether the leaf they are sitting on is acceptable for laying eggs and being their caterpillars’ food.
  • They also have scents which play a double purpose of attracting the opposite sex and sending away the predators.
  • A group of butterflies is called a flutter. 

Habitat:

  • Butterflies are found almost everywhere in the world and are native to all continents except Antarctica. 
  • They can survive in all types of environments:  hot or cold, dry or moist, at sea level or high in the mountains. 
  • Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 30 degree Celsius. 

Types:

  • Queen Alexandra’s birdwing is the largest butterfly in the world, having a wingspan of 30 centimeters. 
  • It is native to the rainforests of northern Papua New Guinea and is an endangered species. 
  • The western pygmy blue butterfly is the smallest butterfly in the world and is found in coastal regions throughout the southern United States. 

Life Cycle:

  • Butterflies undergo a complete metamorphosis.
  • They begin their existence with eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae called caterpillars.
  • The caterpillar grows quickly by feeding on plant leaves.
  • Inside the cocoon there is a constant change and transformation.  When the metamorphosis is complete, the cocoon splits open and the young butterfly emerges.
  • The caterpillar develops into a cocoon.
  • It may take from a few days to many months for the butterfly to develop to adulthood from an egg.

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