Butterflies begin their life as an egg, usually on or around a plant. The eggs may be round, oval or cylindrical; green or yellow in color; smooth or with ridges. They may take anywhere from a few days to a few months to hatch.

The caterpillar that emerges from the egg starts eating right away. This, along with growing, is its main function. Since it does grow so much and its skin cannot stretch, caterpillars shed their skin often. The caterpillar will continue to grow and shed its skin until it reaches its full size. Once this happens, the caterpillar is ready to become a pupa.

The pupa stage is when the caterpillar builds a cocoon or forms a silklike pad to surround itself in. Inside this cocoon, the butterfly is formed. The whole process can take anywhere from a few days to a year.

An adult butterfly has body features similar to other insects. The exoskeleton, for example, and the three main body parts are both common in all insects. The three main body parts are the head, the thorax, and the abdomen (see picture below).

The head consists of the eyes, antennae, and mouthparts. The eyes are on both sides of the head. Each eye is compound eye that views everything as thousands of tiny images. The two antennae are right between the eyes and are used for smell, hearing, touch, to find food, and to find a mate. The mouthparts of an adult consist of a proboscis to suck nectar from flowers.

The thorax is the midsection of the body of a butterfly. Attached to the thorax are the legs and wings. The three pairs of legs on butterflies are weak so they cannot walk long distances. The two pairs of wings bend and flip to carry the butterfly during flight.

The abdomen is the part of the butterfly that protects the internal organs. The organs that are enclosed in the abdomen are the reproductive organs, digestive organs, and organs for excreting waste.

Once they become adults, the main function of a butterfly is reproduction. The first step, however, is to attract a mate. Butterflies use sight and smell to produce signals, called cues, to get the attention of a possible mate. This may be by revealing patterns of colors on its wings or by releasing pheromones (special scents that are only detected by other butterflies) form its wings. After mating, the male will usually die but the female begins to search for a place to lay her eggs.

In order to live long enough to reproduce, butterflies must have some protection or self-defense methods. Most can blend with their surroundings (which is called protective coloration). Others have a chemical defense in which the butterfly will release unpleasant odors or tastes. In this case the butterflies will have certain patterns or colors on their wings to let possible predators know of this chemical defense (which is called warning coloration). Other butterflies, such as the Viceroy, can imitate these species that have an unpleasant taste.

Butterflies, along with moths, make up the insect group Lepidoptera. There are about 15,000 to 20,000 species of butterflies that can be broken down into the following nine families: Skippers; Blues, Coppers, and Hairstreaks; Brush-footed Butterflies; Sulfurs and Whites; Metalmarks; Satyrs and Wood Nymphs; Swallowtails; Milkweed Butterflies; and Snout Butterflies. Although all butterflies have some similar characteristics, each of the following families has some distinguishing traits.

Skippers differ from all other kinds of butterflies for two reasons: first, they have a plump, hairy body (which means they look more like moths) and second, their antennas have hooked tips instead of rounded tips. There are about 3,500 kinds of skipper and they can be found anywhere except in Polar Regions. Their name comes from the way they "skip" and "dart" around while flying. Skippers vary in color from orangish-brown to dark brown with white and yellow markings.

Examples: Silver-spotted Skipper, Roadside Skipper, Fiery Skipper, and Checkered Skipper.

This group has about 4,000 species and can be found in every type of environment. They are small butterflies that produce a sweet liquid known as "honeydew" for protection. Blues are bright blue or violet in color and Coppers are bright orange to red in color. Hairstreaks have a "hairlike tail" on its hind wings.

Examples: Spring Azure, Bronze Copper, Great Purple Hairstreak

These butterflies can be found anywhere except polar icecaps and driest deserts and are total about 3,500 species. Brush-footed butterflies get their name from the short, front legs they have that resemble brush feet. They protect themselves by blending with the surroundings because they have bright colors on their upper wing surface and dark colors on the underside.

Examples: Crescents, Checkerspots, Fritillaries, Viceroy, Red Admiral, and Mourning Cloak.

This group, which is found mainly in tropical regions, has about 1,000 species. They differ in color from light yellow to orange. The wings of Sulfurs have black edges. But the wings of Whites are marked with black, brown, yellow, or red spots.

Examples: Cabbage butterfly.

Metalmarks are common in South America but are found all over the world and total about 1,000 species. They have metallic looking marks on their wings that vary from dull reddish-brown to dark brown.

Examples: Northern Metalmark, Little Metalmark.

This group of 800 species is found in the Tropics. They have short front legs and fly close to the ground. Most Satyrs and Wood Nymphs have brown wings that are dotted with eyespots (spots that look like eyes).

Examples: Pearly Eye, Eyed Brown.

This group is also found mainly in the Tropics but is a smaller with only 600 species. This group contains the largest and most beautiful butterflies (including the Queen Alexandria, which is the world’s largest butterfly). Most Swallowtails have a long extension on each hind wing (that looks like the tail of a Swallow, hence the name). They are usually black, brown, and yellow with red and blue spots on their wings.

Examples: African Giant Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Tiger Swallowtail, and Zebra Swallowtail.

Milkweed Butterflies are the large, slow flying butterflies with short front legs. This group only has about 200 species. Their color ranges from orange to brown. The wings have black veins and black margins with white spots.

Examples: Monarch Butterfly, and Queen Butterfly.

This group of 17 species is found mostly in the Tropics. Snout butterflies are named for their long, beaklike mouthparts. The species that are found in North America have brown wings with orange and white markings.

Examples: Snout Butterfly, and Southern Snout Butterfly

Bibliography

1.Lee D. Miller, "Butterfly," Discovery Channel School, original content provided by World Book Online, http://www.discoveryschool.com/homeworkhelp/
worldbook/atozscience/b/085160.html, Today's date here.

2. "Butterflies and Moths," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001

3. Opler, Paul A., Harry Pavulaan, and Ray E. Stanford (coordinators). 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm