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The butterfly life cycle!
See the fascinating transformation from caterpillar to butterfly.
Ready for the lowdown on one of nature’s most beautiful insects? Then check out our butterfly life cycle facts!
We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings. But did you know that these fab flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation – a process known as “ metamorphosis “.
Join Nat Geo Kids as we follow the life-cycle of this quirky creature, from the egg to the air!
Stage 1: the egg
It all starts when a female butterfly lays her eggs, usually on leaves or stems of plants. Inside these tiny eggs, caterpillars grow. Depending on the species, the eggs can vary in shape and texture – they can be round, oval or cylindrical, and smooth, bumpy or wrinkled. The time it takes for the eggs to hatch can also vary – in some species, they will hatch within a few weeks and in others they will only hatch once the weather is warm enough.
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Stage 2: the caterpillar
Once ready, the caterpillar leaves its egg home and enters the big outside world! And these little critters have one serious appetite – they actually eat their way out of the egg and immediately start chomping on the leaves of the host plant. During this stage, they shed their skin four or five times – as the caterpillar grows, its skin becomes too tight and splits open, revealing a new, larger skin underneath. A fully grown caterpillar can be over 100 times larger than when it emerged from its egg. Wow!
Stage 3: the pupa
Once fully grown, the caterpillar forms itself into a “pupa” (or chrysalis) – a kind of vessel in which the caterpillar changes into a butterfly. They usually do this on twigs or safe, hidden areas around the host plant. The “pupa” stage may last a few weeks to several months depending on the species. During this time, a hardened case forms around the pupa to protect it from predators and extreme weather conditions. And inside, the tissue, limbs and organs of the caterpillar transform. The result? A wonderful winged butterfly!
Stage 4: the butterfly
Once the butterfly is ready to emerge, the case around the pupa splits open. But it’s not time for take off just yet, as the wings are at first wet, soft and wrinkled against its body. The butterfly waits for its wings to dry, and pumps a liquid called hemolymph into them so that they become big and strong. Once fit for flight, this brilliant bug then takes to the air in search for flowers to feed on and for other butterflies to mate with.
And that’s the cycle complete – and ready to start all over again!
DID YOU KNOW? Moths also go through this process of metamorphosis. Check out the four stages of the Atlas moth, below – the largest moth in the world!
Images: Atlas moth: Butterfly World . All other images: Getty Images UK. Monarch butterfly on flower: James Laurie, Shutterstock.
Cool, huh did you enjoy learning about the butterfly life cycle let us know by leaving a comment, below, leave a comment.
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Wow I love it so much.
YOOO GREAT WORK
AWESOMENESS!!!!!!
I love butterflies they are so pretty
wow, this was actually pretty good :)
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It’s really cool and fun to look at
This website really helps me with my butterfly stages
great facts i learnt a lot
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cool 0-0 like frog cycle
good to know
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coo;l can't wait
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At the age of f 75 I find di this facinating
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Need more information
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So beneficial ✨
That is a good life cycle
Wow nice explanation
I love National Geographic kids.
I love National geographic kids
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This helped me with class work ALOT thanks whoever made this
I think that looks amazing and gorgeous!
So cool cant wait for more
Nice butterfly
i love lady bugs wow
So cool helped loads with my homework thanks
I cannot believe how kind you are to supply us with all of these answers to homework!
It was the best out of all of them, my favorite insect was always a butterfly!!!
sooooo cooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllll
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It was interesting because it is fascinating
Love butterflies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that is so awsome!!!!!
i love butterflys
These are some fantastic fact l used them for year 2 and they really enjoyed it
TOTTALY AMAZING!
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BUTTERFLYS ARE AWSOME
this is good for kids
AWSOME LIFE CYCLE
What are great life cycles into wonderful world.
awesome! learnt so much already! :)
GREAT WEBSITE!!!it helps me to gather more knowledge,after i saw the life cycle of the butterfly,i understand it more.
Fantastic! The pictures are really beautiful and facilitates the explanation to the kids.
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Cool I`ve never seen a moth that big.
helped me alot
Lol cool web
I want to know more!!
greatest information
This is cool
I love butterflies and caterpillers
I WANT TO BE ONE.
coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool amazing thank for the info x
It sounds COOL
it was cool
that was amazing i love this website it helped me with my homework thanks
the moth thing was nasty and i love butterflies
AWESOME and COOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really like this
Im Billy and i like turtles
Awesome you practically did my homework for me and I got an A*
Awesome you practically did my homework and I got an A*
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beast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the butterfly cycle
wicked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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realy help full I used this at school
very instresting about a life cycle of a butterfly
this is the butterfly
I hate butterflys
I hate butterflies
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Not that good
this helps me on my homework
talk about a me for once!
Butterflys are cool
the moth thing looked creepy
Super Informative
i love butterflys!!!!! (:
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I love butterFLYS
awsome butterflys
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is it true that butterflyd are cute
this is best website evever
this theached me a lot of stuf
2 things to say number 1 COOL AWESOME RADICAL 2 thing to say I have been learning about life cycles at school
I Li ke I Love
I love the fact about the eggs
The egg looks like a grape
That is amazing
This rocks, it could do whith more interesting facts for older ones.
it is intresting
WOW. Those Butterflies are really beautiful. I have got a butterfly home with some caterpillars waiting to turn into butterflies, i hope they look like some of these butterflies!
Hi my name is Nicole and I am ten years old and I am in yr5 . After half term , I have thousands of tests including my first one is spellings and science which we are doing about the butterfly life cycle . This is really great homework help . Thanks
Hi. Im in year5 and In my class we have also been learning about the butterfly cycle. Its abit sad that they only live for about two odd weeks. I like all of the different coulers thy have on there backs. They are very pretty
This is great
That is really great . It will help me with my homework as my exams are coming up .
CUSTOMIZE YOUR AVATAR
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