Contents 

3. Beautiful butterflies

4. What is a butterfly?

6. What is a life cycle?

8. Egg

10. Caterpillar

12. Chrysalis

14. Adult butterfly

16. Metamorphosis

18. Glossary

Beautiful Butterflies

Butterflies are so beautiful and there are so many types. However, they didn't always look like this. Just a few weeks ago they were eggs, that turned into caterpillars, then turned into a chrysalis and finally an adult butterfly. Let's read more to learn about these changes!

Morpho

Monarch

Skipper 

What is a butterfly?

A butterfly is an insect, which has three sections to its body--- a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. Butterflies have six legs, large wings, and two feelers called antennae. Butterflies smell with their feelers and taste with their feet.

What is a life cycle?

An animal or insect's life cycle is made up of the stages in its life from the time they are born to the time they become an adult, make babies, and then die. Most butterflies have a short life span. They only live for a few weeks. However, Monarchs live longer than other butterflies do. The life cycle of a butterfly goes through four stages: the egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa), and adult.

Egg

The first stage of the life cycle is the egg. A Monarch butterfly lays their eggs only on milkweed leaves. At first, the eggs are white but soon turn dark gray. A caterpillar is inside each egg. After a couple of days, the caterpillar is ready to hatch chewing its way out the eggshell.

Milkweed leaf with eggs

Caterpillar 

The second stage of the life cycle is "larva" or caterpillar. When the egg hatches, the Monarch caterpillar will start its work and eat the leaf they were born on. CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP!  Its skin is covered with spots and stripes. Milkweed leaves are the only food they eat. They eat about 30 leaves in order to get ready for the next stage of their life cycle.

They keep eating.

They keep molting.

They keep growing.

Until the last molt where they get a hard shell, "chrysalis".