the butterfly life cycle · the butterfly life cycle . the egg is the first stage in the butterfly...
TRANSCRIPT
The egg is the first stage in the butterfly life cycle.
Butterfly eggs are very small and round. Many have ribs or other tiny features. Females lay their eggs on or near the
plants that will later become food for the caterpillar.
Egg
When the larva (caterpillar) hatches from the egg, they spend most of their time eating. Butterflies do all of their growing when they're caterpillars and food gives them the energy and bodybuilding materials they need. A caterpillar's
exoske leton can't stretch or grow, so the caterpillar sheds its skin, or mo lts , several times as it grows.
Larva
When a caterpillar has finished growing, it forms a pupa . From the outside, the pupa looks as if it's resting. But
inside, every part of the caterpillar is changing. Most of its organs and other body parts dissolve and re-form into the
organs, tissues, limbs and wings of the adult. Butterfly pupae are called chrysa l ises . Many caterpillars spin
cocoons and form pupae inside them.
Pupa
pa
When the pupa has finished changing, it molts one last time and emerges as an adu lt butterfly. The adult emerges with its wings folded up against its body. The butterfly
pumps blood into the wings to expand them. The adult is the stage when butterflies mate and reproduce. Females lay their eggs on plants or other surfaces, and the cycle
starts all over again.
Adult