Activity Sheet - Find Out About Butterflies

Fascinating Butterfly Facts

• Butterflies and moths belong to the order of insects called Lepidoptera which means ‘scale wings’.
• The only way to tell a butterfly from a moth is by the antennae – a butterfly’s are club shaped whereas a moth’s are feathered.
• Many moths are just as colourful as butterflies.
• A butterfly’s tongue is called a proboscis. It is like a drinking straw for sipping nectar from flowers.
• Butterflies have special sensory organs in their feet allowing them to detect sugary nectar as soon as they land on a plant.
• Female butterflies can determine whether a plant is suitable for egg laying by stamping or scratching at the leaves with their feet.
• Butterflies have a pair of compound eyes, each one made up of hundreds or thousands of tiny lenses.
• Caterpillars have very simple eyes which can detect light or dark but cannot see detail.
• The antennae can detect scents that the human nose could not possibly smell and they help the female to find the correct food plant for their caterpillar.

Life Cycle
Butterflies have a complex life cycle: the young look nothing like the adult!

	Egg Female butterflies spend much of their time finding the right food plant to lay their eggs on. Most caterpillars can only feed on a few plant species, some have only a single food-plant. The colour and shape of the egg is unique to each species of butterfly. Many eggs do not hatch as they become prey for birds, mites, bugs, parasitic wasps and disease.
	Caterpillar Caterpillars are the eating stage of a butterfly’s life. The egg-case often contains valuable nutrients and is usually the caterpillars first meal. After this they feed on plants. Their sideways moving jaws are solidly built and toothed, ideal for cutting through leaves. The caterpillars of butterflies and moths have three sets of legs at the front. These are the trus legs, that will become the legs of the adult butterfly. Further back there are eight prolegs, plus a pair of claspers at the tail. These are used to grip leaves and twigs, but disappear during metamorphosis.
	Chrysalis This is the transformation stage of a butterfly’s life. Inside the chrysalis, ‘organiser’ cells move about inside the soup-like contents, forming all parts of the adults body. Emerging from the chrysalis is a dangerous time for the butterfly. The wings are soft and crumpled, they have to be extended and dry out until they are hard before the butterfly can fly.
	Adult The main goal of an adult butterfly is to mate and lay eggs. It may only live for a few weeks. It feeds on sugary nectar to get the energy to fly.

Body Parts
Like all insects the butterflies body has three main parts :- head, thorax and abdomen.

Head The head holds the eyes and the antennae and the nectar sipping tongue called the proboscis. The proboscis is like a drinking straw which is as thick as a human hair. It is rolled up under the butterflies head when not in use. The proboscis is hinged to enable the butterfly to drink from flower clusters individually without moving.	Antennae The antennae are sensory organs and are used to detect scents and to pick up a variety of tactile signals. They are capable of picking up minute dilutions of certain scents, far beyond the reach of the human nose. Females also use their antennae to detect the correct plant on which to lay their eggs.
Eyes Butterflies have a pair of compound eyes, so called because they are made up of hundreds or thousands of tiny lenses. They see a complex mosaic of pictures which enables them to avoid predators and view their immediate surroundings.	Thorax The thorax is divided into three segments each with a pair of legs attached. The rear two also have the butterflies wings attached.

Wings The two pairs of wings are attached to the thorax. The fore wings are usually a little larger and more angled than the hind wings. The wings are supported by a network of veins and covered with a network of scales. These scales contain pigment which give the butterfly its pattern. These scales are loosely attached so are lost easily. Older butterflies can often look very tatty with transparent areas on their wings. They need a good coating of scales to enable them to fly properly and to absorb the sun's rays to warm up their body before flight.

Legs The three pairs of legs are all attached to the thorax and are used for clinging onto plants. The feet are called tarsi, they contain sensory organs capable of tasting a range of chemicals. With these tarsi butterfly test plants out for suitability as food or breeding sites.

Abdomen The abdomen has no legs attached but males have a pair of claspers right at the tip to hold the female when mating. Females have an extendable egg laying tube, or ovipositor which in some species is long and flexible so as to insert eggs into crevices in bark or into flowers. The reproductive system and much of the digestive system is contained within the abdomen.