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Table of Contents

What is a Butterfly?........Page 4

Life Cycle......................Page 8

Different Types............Page 12

Habitat........................Page 16

Monarch Migration.........Page 20

Diet..............................Page 22

Fun Facts!.....................Page 26

Books about Butterflies..Page 28

Glossary........................Page 30

Fluttering Fact Freddy here! When you see me on a 

page, make sure to read what I have to say! I am 

only here to help you! 

What is a Butterfly?

    A butterfly is 

an insect that 

has very colorful 

wings! With those 

wings, flying is 

easy to do. On 

the picture to the 

right, the different 

body parts of the 

butterfly are 

shown. 

     Are there any body parts that 

both you and the butterfly have?

Some of 

those 

words from 

the page 

before are 

long! Here 

are what 

they mean 

and how to 

sound 

them out. 

-Antennae (An-ten-nigh) helps them to balance 

while they fly around. Antennae also help the 

butterfly to smell.

-Thorax (Thor-ax) has the muscles in it to help 

move their wings and legs.

-Abdomen (Ab-doh-min) contains the heart and 

organs.

-Forewings (Four-wings) are the set of wings 

on top of the butterfly.

-Hindwings (High-nd-wings) are the wings on 

the bottom of the butterfly. 

A butterfly has little hairs 

all over called sensory 

hairs (Sen-soar-ree h-

airs). Sensory hairs help 

the butterfly to feel what 

is around them. The hairs 

are like having small 

fingers all over their body! 

These hairs help them to 

find their food and where 

to go. They do not like 

bumping into anyone or 

anything!

What colors do you see in this picture? 

Can you spot any sensory hairs?

Life Cycle of the Butterfly

A butterfly has an amazing life cycle! A life 

cycle is how a butterfly will grow throughout 

their entire life. They do not start as a butterfly 

baby. Butterflies start their life as a tiny egg 

that was placed on a leaf by their mother. But 

what comes out of the egg? Not a butterfly!

A caterpillar (Cat-er-pill-er) 

comes out from the egg! 

Caterpillars look like little 

worms and can contain very 

pretty patterns on them. 

They love to eat many 

leaves and flowers so they 

can grow. They need to be 

strong enough to shed their 

skin! Shedding their skin is 

called molting. A caterpillar 

will shed it's skin at least five 

times in its life!

When a caterpillar has grown as big as it can, the next stage of their life 

cycle will start. The caterpillar will find a peaceful place to pupate (Pew-

payt) in a cocoon. A cocoon is where a caterpillar will undergo 

metamorphosis (Met-ah-more-pha-sis). Metamorphosis is the time when a 

caterpillar will turn into a beautiful butterfly! This stage can last for a few 

days or a few months. When the chrysalis (Chris-ah-lis) becomes 

transparent (Trans-pair-ent) the butterfly will come out about a day later. 

The last stage of the life cycle is their adult butterfly life. When the 

butterfly finally emerges from the cocoon, its appearance is very 

wrinkly. Looking like a normal butterfly is a workout! The butterfly 

pumps liquid into its wings through his thorax to inflate them. 

After the wings are stretched out, the butterfly is able to fly and 

search for food. Their life cycle is so amazing! Look how much they 

transform in the picture below! 

Color this 

picture to 

help you 

remember 

the life cycle 

of a butterfly!

Different Types of Butterflies

Anise Swallowtail

LOVES: parsley, dill, 

carrots, oranges, 

lemons and limes.

Buckeye 

LOVES: plants like 

Snapdragon and 

Toadflax.

Cabbage White

LOVES: garden 

vegetables.

Here are 

a few of 

the most 

common 

butter-

flies and 

what 

they love 

to eat!

Cloudless Sulphur

LOVES: Cassia 

plants, which are in 

the bean family.

Giant Swallowtail

LOVES: Citrus Trees 

and rue which is an 

herb in the citrus 

family.

Gulf Fritillary

LOVES: Passion vines. 

WARNING! Passion 

vines contain toxins.

Monarch

LOVES: Milkweed 

plants, that also 

contain toxins to help 

them fight off the bad 

guys!

Orange Sulphur

LOVES: Plants in the pea 

family which are lupine 

(Loo-pine), alfalfa (Al-foul-

fah) and sweet clover

Painted Lady

LOVES: Tree 

mallow, 

cheeseweed, and 

plants in the pea 

family.

Wow! Those were some beautiful 

butterflies! Which one was your favorite? 

Draw it on a separate sheet of paper!

Look back to all of the types of 

butterflies and try to think of which ones 

you have seen outside! 

Be sure to keep looking around for 

more!

Habitat- Where a Butterfly Lives

Every butterfly in the world is terrestrial (Tur-

res-tree-uhl). Terrestrial means that the butterfly 

lives on land. Butterflies can be seen living in 

any part of the world except for Antarctica! They 

do not like to live in environments with extreme 

weather conditions. 

During the caterpillar life cycle, a caterpillar will 

spend part of their life underground. Ants take 

care of the caterpillar and the caterpillars give the 

ants sweet honeydew for their kind acts of 

helping. 

Butterflies are ectothermic (Ek-toe-thur-mik). Ectothermic means that 

butterflies have cold blood. Their cold-blooded bodies help to keep their 

body normal. If they are too cold than they can take in heat to keep them 

nice and cozy. Butterflies are not able to fly in temperatures that are below 

50 degrees! Which is why butterflies may not be seen in the chilly, winter 

days. 

Look at all of these beautiful places! Which one 

do you think a butterfly would like to live in?

ANSWER:Butterflies will not live in the snow!

Monarch Migration

On this map, the butterflies are flying South. 

This is to stay warm so that they are able to 

keep flying around and looking pretty. When 

it gets warm again they will go back up to the 

North to continue their life cycle!

The Monarch butterflies hate 

the cold! If their body 

temperature gets below 86 

degrees, they have to sit in 

the sun and shake their wings 

to get warm again. That is 

why they go to warm places, 

like Mexico, so they can stay 

warm all of the time. Soaking 

in the beautiful sunshine!

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