1. What is a butterfly's life cycle?
2. When will the migrating monarchs get to my neighborhood?
3. How do you say "butterfly" in . . . ? (now over 150 languages)
4. How do butterflies breathe? Smell?
5. What kinds of butterflies and moths live in my neighborhood?
6. How can I learn about butterfly farming?
7. Why are they called "butterflies"?
8. What is my state insect?
9. What do Wooly Bear caterpillars become?
10. How long do butterflies live?
11. How can I tell a moth from a butterfly?
12. How many kinds of butterfly are there?
13. Where do butterflies go at night?
14. What do butterflies eat?
15. What do caterpillars eat?
16. My school wants to build a butterfly garden but we need donations. Where should we look?
17. What are the largest and smallest butterflies?
18. What are the world's rarest and most common butterflies?
19. Are there more moth species or butterfly species?
20. Which state has the most butterfly species?
21. How do butterflies communicate?
22. What makes their wings colorful?
23. How many species of butterflies are there?
24. here do butterflies sleep?
25. How fast can butterflies fly?
26. How do butterflies escape from predators?
27. How do poisonous moths warn predators in the dark?
28. On what kind of living fur do moths live?
29. What is the scientific name for "butterfly"?

1. What is a caterpillar?
2. What are 'prolegs'?
3. How do caterpillars see?
4. How do caterpillars breathe?
5. Is frantic wriggling normal?
6. What does it mean when a caterpillar arches the front of its body and remains motionless?

What is a butterfly's life cycle?

LIFE CYCLE
In the adult stage a butterfly will live approximately 3 to 4 weeks. However, the entire life cycle of a butterfly can range between 2 and 8 months, depending on species. Some migratory butterflies, such as the monarch in North America, can live as long as 7 to 8 months in one generation. Others, such as the Heliconius butterflies, do not migrate but can still live sometimes as long as 8 months.

The females will only mate once throughout their lives whereas the males can mate more than once. This leads to competition between the males to mate with the females.  Usually a female adult butterfly will lay around 100 eggs. Different groups of species have different ways of going about the laying of their eggs. Some prefer to lay eggs abundantly in groups, while others prefer to lay their eggs singly and scattered on many plants. Yet others may even drop their eggs in flight as their relationship with the host plant is less specific and they don't need to be quite as accurate in choosing.

Butterflies mate "back-to-back", with the wings of the males typically found in between those of the female. The males attach themselves to the abdomen of the female with their claspers, and inject the sperm into the abdomen. There the female stores the sperm in a sac called a spermathecae until she decides to lay the eggs, upon which they will be fertilized by the sperm.

On average, the time table of the life cycle is like so:

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When will the migrating monarchs get to my neighborhood?

The best place to find out where monarchs are RIGHT NOW is Journey North. You can see up-to-date maps of both northbound and southbound migrations, and you can also enter your own sightings.

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How do you say "butterfly" in . . .

Click HERE to see a list of the words for "butterfly" in a variety of  languages. 

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How do butterflies breathe? Smell?

Adult butterflies, as well as caterpillars, breathe through tiny openings along the sides of their bodies, called "spiracles." From each spiracle, a tube called a "trachea" carries oxygen into the body. Butterflies do not have noses and lungs as we do. Butterflies "smell" with their antennae.

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What kinds of butterflies and moths live in my neighborhood?

We've put together a world atlas to help you find butterflies in any locality. In the USA, we have butterflies and moths listed by state. In the United Kingdom, by postal code. 

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How can I learn about butterfly farming?

To learn more about butterfly farming go to www.butterflies.com/commercial_breeder.htm 

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Why are they called "butterflies"?

Click HERE for an article by Rick Mikula.

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What is my state insect?

Go HERE

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What do Wooly Bear caterpillars become?

The wooly bear caterpillar eventually becomes an Isabella Tiger Moth, Pyrrharctia Isabella

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How long do butterflies live?

Opler and Krizek discuss this difficult question in Butterflies East of the Great Plains, where they state that the expected life span, which is usually much shorter than the maximum life span (because of weather, predators, and many other factors), ranges from about 2 to 14 days. Maximum life span ranges from about 4 days for the Spring Azure to 10 to 11 months for the Mourning Cloak. Just as with people, females generally live longer than males. Butterflies which hibernate or go into reproductive diapause also tend to live longer.

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How can I tell a moth from a butterfly?

Butterflies and moths both belong to a group of insects called "lepidoptera", meaning that they have wings covered with scales. They are related in many ways. Butterflies are generally brightly-colored while moths are generally drab, though they are many dramatic exceptions to this. Almost all butterflies are active during the day, and most (but by no means all) moths are active at night. A good way to tell the difference is by their antennae. Butterfly antennae are shaped somewhat like a golf club, with a long shaft. Most moths have either simple filaments tapering to a point, or complicated affairs with many cross-filaments.

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How many kinds of butterfly are there?

Worldwide, there are approximately 28,000 species. There are about 725 species in the USA and Canada. About 2,000 species have been found in Mexico. About 80% of all species are in the tropics.

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Where do butterflies go at night?

At night or during bad weather, butterflies will usually hang from the undersides of leaves, or crawl into crevices between rocks or other objects, and sleep.

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What do butterfies eat?

Adult butterflies sip nectar from flowers through their tongues, which act like straws. A very few butterflies do not visit flowers, but instead feed on tree sap or rotting organic material.

You can feed butterflies with a butterfly feeder and homemade nectar. For more info, click here.

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What do caterpillars eat?

Almost all caterpillars eat plant materials. Most eat leaves, but some eat seeds, seed pods, or flowers. The caterpillar of the Harvester butterfly eats aphids.

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My school wants to build a butterfly garden but we need donations. Where should we look?

There are several organizations that provide money to school for wildlife habitat enhancement projects such as creating a butterfly garden. For more info, click here.

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What are the largest and smallest butterflies?

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae), with a wing span of 11-1/8 inches (280 mm), is found only in the rain forest of New Guinea. Destruction of its habitat is threatening this beautiful creature with extinction.

The smallest butterfly, the Pygmy Blue (Brephidium exilis), is found in the southern United States. Its wingspan is 1/2 inch (15 mm).

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What are the world's rarest and most common butterflies?

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae), is found only in the rain forest of New Guinea. It is the rarest and biggest of all butterflies. Destruction of its habitat is threatening this beautiful creature with extinction.

The most common butterfly is the Cabbage White.

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Are there more moth species of butterfly species?

Moth species outnumber butterfly species by 16-to-1.

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Which state has the most butterfly species?

Arizona, with 220.

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How do butterflies communicate?

Butterflies communicate mostly through chemical signals. Males produce 'pheromones' to attract females. A few species communicate with sound. For example, the male Cracker Butterfly can produce noises with its wings.

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What makes their wings colorful?

Butterfly wings are covered with scales (that's the meaning of the word 'lepidoptera'). Each scale is a single color, most of which are produced by pigments. The iridescence that's sometimes seen is produced from a reflective microstructure on the surface of the scales.

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How many species of butterflies are there?

There are about 15,000-20,000 species of butterflies and about 150,000-250,000 species of moths all over the world. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica and there are still a lot of them who have not yet been discovered.

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Where do butterflies sleep?

To go to sleep, butterflies look for a safe place like the underside of a leaf or a branch, for example.

Most butterflies sleep alone, but there are also species sleeping in groups. Poisonous butterflies have a particular smell that probably protects them better when they sleep together. It is also useful not to change the group’s sleeping place because a predator who attacked a poisonous butterfly one time won’t do this again. There is only a limited number of predators in an area so there is only a limited number to "educate" if the sleeping place stays the same.

One species from Costa Rica whose scientific name is marpesia berania sleeps in groups on a leaf. If one butterfly of the group is disturbed, it opens its wings and touches its neighbors. Being touched, they open their wings as well and so the whole group is informed about the danger and can escape together.

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How fast can butterflies fly?

The speed of their flight depends on the way the butterfly or moth flies: Blues and Whites normally have speeds under 5 mph (=8 km/h), the speed of Fritillaries is between 10 mph and 25 mph (=16 to 40 km/h) and Hawk-Moths can reach speeds up to 34 mph (=54km/h). Some species of the family of the Skippers reach speeds up to 37 mph (=60 km/h).

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How do butterflies escape from predators?

Besides warning and scaring predators with colors butterflies fly in a special way. The direction of their staggering flight is hard to predict.

When they hear the sounds of a bat, the ones flying at night start a zigzag flight in all directions: up and down, left and right. So it gets hard for the bat to catch them.

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How do poisonous moths warn predators in the dark?

At night a bright warning pattern on the wings is of no use. It cannot be seen in the dark. So some poisonous moths make clicking noises to warn bats that they are poisonous. Of course other species copy this sound to profit of the protective effect, too.

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On what kind of living fur do moths live?

Some moths feed on fur. The only "living" fur they can live on is a sloth’s one. The sloth is so slow that the moths always find their way back "home" from their flights. The caterpillars of these moths feed on the droppings of sloth.

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>What is the scientific name for "butterfly"?

The scientific name for "butterfly" is "Lepidoptera" and means "scaly wings".

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What is a caterpillar?

Most insects have a larval stage known as a 'grub', with six legs. Butterfly and moth grubs have up to ten extra legs, called 'prolegs.' Since these extra legs cause them to look and act differently, these grubs are called 'caterpillars.' Some caterpillars turn into butterflies, but most turn into moths.

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What are 'prolegs'?

Caterpillars have the 6 legs of other insects, plus up to ten 'prolegs' that distinguish them as the grubs of moths or butterflies. The 6 true legs are jointed, with a little claw on the end of each. Prologs are cylindrical, not jointed, with a tiny hook that makes them good for walking or clinging. The 6 true legs on the thorax remain throughout pupation, and these become the legs of the adult butterfly or moth. The prolegs disappear.

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How do caterpillars see?

Most have six simple eyes, called 'ocelli' or 'stemmata.' Some species have fewer than six.

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How do caterpillars breathe?

There is an oval opening called a 'spiracle' on each side of each segment. These are connected to a tube, the 'trachea.' As the caterpillar moves, air is pumped into the trachea, causing oxygen to be taken in and carbon dioxide to be pushed out. Caterpillars do not actually breathe as we do, but air is exhanged by the compression and extension of each segment.

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Is frantic wriggling normal behavior?

Yes, it is their response to feeling threatened.

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What does it mean when a caterpillar arches the front of its body and remains motionless?

Caterpillars go through several stages, called 'instars', in which they change their skin. To break through the old skin, which they've outgrown, some caterpillars arch their backs.

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