How long does a butterfly live
The life span of a butterfly
The butterfly is a type of insect, and it is one of the wonderful creatures that God endowed with bright colors, but they do not live for long periods. Some species live for a week or two, and some species may reach six months old, and to find out the age of the butterfly, scientists mark the butterflies and then regroup or watch them, and determine their age.
The life cycle of a butterfly
The butterfly has four stages in its life cycle, and each stage is different from the other, and the period that a butterfly may take to reach maturity varies from one species to another, and in the following sequence of its life stages:
Eggs: In the first stage, the adult female of the butterfly lays its eggs on tree leaves, and puts a large number of eggs to ensure the survival of a number of them alive, and these eggs are characterized by their small size, then the eggs hatch after about five days of laying.
Larva: This stage begins when the tiny worm-like larvae emerge from the eggs, and are characterized by having a smooth texture or with hair, and when they hatch, they begin to eat continuously, and eat the leaves and flowers to grow quickly so that they gain twice their size, and also change their skin more than four times during this stage Because of its increased growth.
Cocooning: At this stage, the caterpillar spins a silk cocoon around it to protect itself, and these cocoons may be found hanging under a branch of trees, and inside the cocoon the caterpillar turns into a butterfly, and this stage does not take long.
The adult butterfly: When the butterfly has fully grown inside the cocoon, it comes out of it, and it is tired and its wings are moist and soft, and as soon as the butterfly has rested, it is ready to start flying.
The benefits of butterflies
In addition to its beautiful and bright colors, the butterfly has an important role in nature. They pollinate plants by carrying pollen from one plant to another, which helps fruits, vegetables and flowers to produce new seeds, and they are also included in the food chain of animals, birds, mammals and other insects.
Butterfly definition
The butterfly is defined as a scaly-winged insect, just like beetles, moths, and other insects, and there are many types, shapes and colors of butterflies in the world, some of which live in areas with specific environmental characteristics, and the butterfly passes through its life cycle in several stages, we will highlight On it in this article.
The butterfly searches for a pet to mate
The reproductive cycle begins at the bedside by searching for a pet, using the senses of sight and smell, by issuing specific visual signals that the human eye cannot see, while butterflies are able to do so easily and clearly, and through these signals, butterflies can distinguish between females and males.
As for what determines the suitable pet for a butterfly is the smell it emits from it, which comes from volatile chemicals called "pheromones", and most of the time the male bed dies shortly after mating, after which the female flies to search for a suitable place, to lay eggs in it. An hour after mating.
Butterfly life stages
Butterflies go through four stages until they reach their final shape that we know, which are: the egg, the larva, the pupa, and the fully grown insect.
The egg stage
Most of the female butterflies lay their eggs on the plants in order to provide their young with abundant food, and until the female bedding makes sure that the plant is suitable for her young as food, she tastes the plant through special organs located on the tips of its front legs, knowing that some butterflies lay eggs randomly when flying; So that the young ones have the task of searching for their food after they emerge from the eggs. It is noteworthy that eggs differ from each other in terms of: size, shape, texture, and color. Some of them are yellow, green, red, or orange at other times.
Larva stage
This stage begins after the process of hatching the eggs, and the name of larvae or caterpillars is given to the young butterflies at this stage, and the larvae, after leaving the eggs, feed on the eggshell from which they hatch, then eat the food closest to them, and most of them depend on green plants for feeding. This stage lasts at least two weeks, during which the larva grows rapidly, but the exoskeleton does not grow with it, so when the body of the larva narrows it splits along the back, and at the same time new skin forms under the old one, and the larva comes out from the old skin, and the new external structure becomes marked. With looseness, and therefore, the larva expands it to give it room to grow, after which the larva remains dormant for a few hours until its new external structure solidifies. It is indicated that most of the larvae change their external structure from four to five times. Regarding the colors of "caterpillars" or "caterpillars", the majority of them bear green, brown, yellow, or red colors.
The pupal stage
Once the larva reaches its largest size, it prepares to enter the pupal stage, and in preparation for this stage, the larvae of most moths spin silky cocoons around themselves, while the larvae of true butterflies spin rarely these cocoons.
The adult stage of the insect
As soon as the complete butterfly is formed inside the cocoon, the pupa, or the pupa, its body secretes a liquid that works to rid it of the cocoon cover, then the chest of the complete butterfly swells and breaks the cocoon shell surrounding it, then both the head and the chest come out from the cover, and the butterfly then pushes its legs out of the cover, It pulls the rest of its body from inside the jacket out. The aforementioned process does not take only a few minutes, and after the butterfly comes out, its skeleton is young and floppy, and its wings are shrinking and wet, and its proboscis is divided longitudinally into two parts, and the butterfly uses its muscles to pump air and blood into its body to be able to fly.
