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  Butterfly Information
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Butterfly
Butterfly
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More About Butterflies ...
A butterfly is a flying insect of the order Lepidoptera belonging to one of the superfamilies Hesperioidea (the skippers) and Papilionoidea (all other butterflies). Many butterflies have striking colours and patterns on their wings. People who study or collect butterflies (or the closely- related moths) are called lepidopterists

Unlike many insects, butterflies do not experience a nymph period, but instead go through a pupal stage which lies between the larva and the adult stage (the imago).

Egg
Larva, known as a caterpillar
Pupa (chrysalis)
Adult butterfly (imago)

Butterfly eggs consist of a hard-ridged outer layer of shell, called the chorion. This is lined with a thin coating of wax which prevents the egg from drying out before the larva has had time to fully develop. Each egg contains a number of tiny funnel-shaped openings at one end, called micropyles; the purpose of these holes is to allow sperm to enter and fertilize the egg. Butterfly and moth eggs vary greatly in size between species, but they are all either spherical or ovate.

Larvae, or caterpillars, are multi-legged eating machines. They consume plant leaves and spend practically all of their time in search of food. As they mature their skin is shed several times.

When the larva has eaten enough it will will form a chrysalis (Butterflies do not spin cocoons, moths do.) The larva usually moves to the underside of a leaf. To form a cocoon it spins a silk-like thread around itself. A chrysalis is formed by hardening bodily secretions. A larva completely covered by a cocoon or chrysalis is called a pupa. Inside its protective shell the larva will transform into a butterfly (or moth), a process known as metamorphosis.

The adult, sexually mature, stage of the insect is known as the imago. As Lepidoptera, butterflies have four wings, but unlike moths, the fore and hindwings are not hooked together, permitting a more graceful flight. A butterfly has six legs; the larva also has six true legs and a number of prolegs. After it emerges from its pupal stage it cannot fly for some time because its wings have not yet unfolded. A newly emerged butterfly needs to spend some time 'inflating' its wings with blood and letting them dry, during which time it is extremely vulnerable to predators.

Many species of butterfly are sexually dimorphic. Some butterflies, such as the Monarch butterfly, are migratory.

Butterflies are often confused with moths, but there are a few simple differences between them, including colour, habits, and pupating appearance. See the difference between a butterfly and a moth.

Butterflies live primarily on nectar from flowers. Some also derive nourishment from pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt. Butterflies are also pollinators.
Source: Wikipedia Read more about Butterflies
INFO LINKS
Butterfly
Milkweed Café
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Chipper Woods Bird Observatory
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Black Swallowtail Butterfly
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Monarch Butterfly
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Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
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Swallowtail Butterfly
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Swallowtail Butterfly Read More
Viceroy Butterfly
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Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly
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Brimstone butterfly
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Cabbage white butterfly
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Comma butterfly
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Grayling butterfly
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Holly blue butterfly
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Meadow brown butterfly
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Mountain ringlet butterfly
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Peacock butterfly
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Purple emperor butterfly
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Purple emperor butterfly: Facts and Pictures Read More
Red admiral butterfly
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Small skipper butterfly
BBC Nature: Wildfacts
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Small tortoiseshell butterfly
BBC Nature: Wildfacts
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Speckled wood butterfly
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Swallowtail butterfly
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Spring Azure
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Apollo Butterfly
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Brushfooted Butterfly
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Chinese Gifu Butterfly
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Common Clipper Butterfly
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Golden Birdwing Butterfly
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Golden Kaiser-e-Hind Butterfly
Yunnan Animal Museum
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Hairstreak Butterfly
Yunnan Animal Museum
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Harvester Butterfly
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Junglequeen Butterfly
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Milkweed Butterfly
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Orange Oakleaf Butterfly
Yunnan Animal Museum
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Paris Peacock Butterfly
Yunnan Animal Museum
About Paris Peacock Butterfly Read More
Skipper Butterfly
Yunnan Animal Museum
About Skipper Butterfly Read More
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