Wikijunior:Bugs/Caterpillar/Butterfly
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[edit] What does it look like?
Butterflies are common insects which have a wormlike body and highly colored and showy wings. The body and wings are scaly and the scales are microscopic in nature. If you catch a butterfly by the wings it leaves some peeled off scales on your fingers. Butterflies are common in the garden, visiting flowers during day time.
Moths and butterflies belong to the same insect order but moths are nocturnal in nature, with stocky bodies and most of them have dusky colors.
[edit] Where does it live?
Butterflies are common all around the neighborhood. Some species are always around during spring and summer in your garden. Butterfly larvae, which are called caterpillars, are voracious feeders of plant parts, especially leaves and tender shoots. They may cause extensive damage to their host plants. Each butterfly species has a range of host plants on which the caterpillar feeds. Because of the voracious nature of caterpillars, some species of butterflies are major pests of crop plants which are hosts to the caterpillars. The pupal stage is also spent on the host plants or on the ground, depending on the species.
There are many kinds of butterflies in Pakistan
[edit] What does it eat?
Caterpillars or the larval stage eat their own egg shells as soon as they hatch in most cases. The larvae feed on tender shoots and leaves. In most species larvae eat more than their own body weight. Larval mouth parts are suited for cutting and chewing and have prominent, strong mandibles to suit their purpose.
The pupae are dormant and do not feed.
All adult butterflies feed on liquid food. Adults have long tubular mouths which remain coiled under the head. These mouth parts can be retracted while feeding. Butterflies feed on nectar and plant saps. A few feed on sap from plant fruits or fermented saps from plant parts. In some species the adults do not feed at all.
[edit] How does it defend itself?
Hairy caterpillars have spiny bristles that will irritate predators by lodging in the skin or mucous membranes. Some of these bristles also contain venom that can cause irritation.
Some caterpillars eat food that contains toxins. They store these toxins in their bodies even after they become adult butterflies. This makes animals that eat them sick. Bad tasting butterflies are often brightly colored.
Caterpillars and some butterflies use camouflage to avoid detection. They can be the same color as the plants where they live, or look like sticks or other common objects. The pattern on a butterfly's wings sometimes looks like the face of a much larger animal. This is thought to frighten off some predators.
[edit] What stages of metamorphosis does it go through?
A butterfly goes through four stages during its life. It starts life as an egg. It then becomes a larva and then a pupa, and finally an adult. During the larval stage, a butterfly is called a caterpillar. During its pupal stage it is called a chrysalis, and during the adult stage it is called an imago, which is the butterfly. Butterflies go through complete metamorphosis, which means that the adult form is very different from the juvenile form.
[edit] What special behavior does it exhibit?
[edit] How does this bug affect people?
Butterflies are pollinators. They add beauty to the garden
Caterpillars of many butterfly species are major pests of crop plants.
