Download Butterflies

 Butterflies
have an unusual life cycle.
 Larval caterpillar stage
 Inactive pupal stage
Into finally a spectacular
metamorphosis into a familiar and
colorful winged form
 Butterflies
go
through a pupal
stage

•
Lives from a week
to nearly a year
depending on the
species.
Some have long
life stages while
others are
dormant (surviving
winter life cycles)
 Butterflies
have one or more broods
per year.
 The number of generations per year
varies from temperate to tropical
regions.
 Tropical regions show a trend towards
moltivoltinism.
 Moltivoltinism- A term used in biology
to indicate the number of generations
of an organism in a year.
Butterfly eggs are a
hard, ridged outer layer
of shell called chorian.
It has a thin coating of
wax , that prevents the
egg from drying out
before the larvae has
had time to fully
develop.
The eggs very in size,
and the egg stage last
for a couple of weeks.
 The
egg contains a
tiny, funnel shaped
opening at one
end, called
micropyles.
 This allows the
sperm to enter and
fertilize the egg.
 Butterfly
larvae,
or caterpillars
consume plant
leaves, and they
spend most of
their time in
search for food.
 Some form a
mutual
association with
ants.
Ants and caterpillars
communicate through
vibrations that are
transmitted through the
substrate as well as some
chemical signals. The ants
provide protection for the
larvae and the larvae
provide the ants with
honeydew secretions.
 They
have three pairs of true legs from
the thoracic segments.
 They have up to six pairs pro legs arising
from the abdominal segments.
 They can inflate parts of their head to
appear snake-like.
The imago is the
adult stage of the
butterfly.
 TA newly emerged
butterfly needs to
spend some time
inflating its wings
with blood and letting
them dry, during this
time it is vulnerable
to predators.
 Some wings take up
to three hours to dry.

The wings of a butterfly
become increasingly
damaged as it ages, and
do not repair.
They have two
antennae, two
compound eyes and a
proboscis.
 Butterflies
feed primarily on nectar from
flowers.
 Some fed on pollen and some sap, rotting
fruit, dung and dissolved minerals in wet
sand or dirt.
 Many migrate over long distances.
 As caterpillars, many defend themselves
by freezing and appearing like sticks and
branches.
 Behavioral
defense include perching and
wing positions to avoid being conspicuous.
 Eyespots and tails are found in many
lycaenid butterflies and these divert the
attention of predators from the more
vital head region.
 A butterfly’s hind wings are thought to
allow the butterfly to take swift turns to
evade predators.