Download The Life Cycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly

The Life Cycle
of the Painted
Lady Butterfly
The beauty of a butterfly……
What do
you think a
caterpillar
looks like?
How does a caterpillar
change during its life?
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
A butterfly usually lays 200-500 eggs on plant leaves and stems.
Eggs from different butterflies are different shapes and sizes.
The caterpillars hatch from the eggs about 5 days later.
The caterpillar is also called the larva. Caterpillars first eat their
eggshell, then they eat lots of leaves. Each time the caterpillar
grows, it needs to shed its old skin or molt. They usually molt 5
times. After a few weeks the caterpillar stops eating and growing
and looks for a place to change.
The caterpillar sheds its skin for the last time and becomes a pupa. The pupa
stays inside a hard shell called a chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis, the pupa is
changing from a caterpillar's body to a butterfly's body.
The adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis after several weeks.
The butterfly looks for another butterfly to mate with. After mating,
the female butterfly lays her eggs. Adult butterflies usually live for
only 2 weeks!
The
caterpillars
are very tiny
when they
arrive in our
classroom.
The
caterpillars
are
constantly
eating and
growing.
They grow
very big
very fast!
A caterpillar in the J shape.
The
chrysalis
stage
The Painted Lady Butterfly
The Painted Lady Butterfly is found all
over the world.
 It migrates to milder climates for the
winter.
 It takes approximately 23 days to go
through a complete metamorophis.
 The Painted Lady Butterfly lays eggs
on plants, especially the malva plant.

The eggs are green and oval shaped.
 The caterpillar is mostly black with
some light spots.
 When the caterpillar becomes too big
for its skin, the skin splits.
 The caterpillar usually goes through
four to six molts.


When the caterpillar is ready to create its
chrysalis, it crawls to a safe place and
hangs upside down from a branch or leaf.
Next it spins a button of silk and
hangs from a J Shape and begins to
form a chrysalis.
 The chrysalis is a brown color with
gold spots.
 When the chrysalis splits, the
butterfly begins to emerge.
 The Painted Lady Butterfly is active
during the day and rests at night.

Fun Facts about
Butterflies
 Butterflies are solar-powered!
They need the sun to fly.
 Male Painted Ladies have smaller
abdomens than females.
 The tiny scales attached to
butterfly wings give the wings their
Butterflies have taste sensors on their
legs.
 The tiny scales attached to butterfly
wings give the wings their color.
 Painted Lady Butterflies see more
patterns, a wider range of color, and more
shades of green than people do.
Be set free!