Download Butterfly - Smithtown Public School

Butterfly
By Mikayla.brett
Egg stage
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After mating, a female butterfly lays many eggs in a place that will provide food for
the caterpillars when they hatch.
Larva stage
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When the larvae, or caterpillars, hatch out of the eggs, many kinds will first eat the
shells of the egg they have come out of.
The caterpillars eat and eat and grow, but their skin does not.
They have to shed their skin a few times, and each time there is a new, bigger skin
underneath.
This process is called moulting.
Pupa stage
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When a larva has grown big enough, it grips onto a leaf or bark and begins to cover
itself with silk from its body.
This called a chrysalis ( say kris-a-liss) for a butterfly.
Inside the cocoon the caterpillar - it is pupating.
Adult stage
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After a few weeks, the butterfly’s chrysalis splits open and out climbs a butterfly.
The insect stretches out its wings to unfold and dry before flying away to find a
mate.
butterflies do not live very long, and females have just a few days to mate and lay
eggs.
Other information
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They have 6 legs.
They have a long, curled tongue.
They belong to a group of insects called leidioptera (say lep-i-dop-terra).
Their bodies have 3 sections:1. Head
2. Thorax
3. Abdomen
Butterflies have 6 legs joined to the thorax, 3 on each side.
Butterflies have 2 wings on each side of the body.
They have a long tongue called a proboscis, which is curled inside the mouth.
The tongue uncurls for feeding, and is used like a drinking staw.