All About...Butterflies

Butterflies belong to the insect order Lepidoptera, which is Greek for "scaly wing." Butterfly wings are made of tiny scales that create beautiful colors and striking patterns. The dark colors help the butterfly keep warm by absorbing heat from sunlight. Because they are cold-blooded, butterflies cannot produce their own body heat. There are about 20,000 species of butterflies and they can be found in every part of the world, except in Antarctica.

During their lifetimes butterflies change form three times - from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. This is called metamorphosis. When the caterpillar hatches from the egg, all it wants to do is eat. It gains so much weight that it has to shed its skin four or five times. The last shed produces a hard case called a chrysalis or pupa. Some species wrap themselves in silk before they change to a chrysalis for extra protection. Though it's not visible, a dramatic change takes place inside the chrysalis. The caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Some species make the change in few days; others may take years!

Butterflies spend most of their time finding food, escaping from predators, and looking for a mate. An adult butterfly drinks flower nectar for food. A butterfly's mouth (proboscis) is actually a long tube that stays rolled up until needed and then is used like a straw. Butterflies may also be seen feeding on rotting fruit, tree sap, and mud puddles.

Poisonous butterflies, with their bright colors, warn predators like bats, mice, wasps, birds, and lizards to stay away. Other butterflies use camouflage to hide in plain sight. And still others that are nonpoisonous try to copy the look of poisonous types to fool predators into leaving them alone.

Monarch butterflies make an amazing journey each year. Because they cannot survive the winter in a cold climate, they travel thousands of miles from southern Canada to central Mexico. In autumn millions of monarchs fly south and roost in huge numbers in trees in mountainous areas of California and Mexico. Then in the spring they must fly north again to find the right food in plentiful supply. Most lay eggs and die during the journey. Then their offspring continue the trip north. This tiny creature - weighing only 1/50 of an ounce - can travel 20 mph and reach an altitude of 10,000 feet!

Fun Facts

• Butterflies range in size from 1/25 inch to 10 inches.
• Butterflies can see red, green, and yellow.
• Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.
• Some species need up to seven years to become adults. Most of this time they spend as a chrysalis.
• The brimstone butterfly has the longest adult life span: nine to ten months.
• Butterflies can get drunk on the juice of rotten fruit that sometimes contains alcohol. Sipping this juice, they can even become too drunk to fly!

Todo sobre...Mariposas (Spanish Version)

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