There are 15,000 - 20,000 species of butterflies worldwide. Butterflies are part of the Lepidoptera order of insects. Lepidoptera order also includes moths. Butterflies are mainly diurnal; they are mostly day flying insects that sleep at night, whereas moths are nocturnal. Adult butterflies have six legs and their life cycle consists of four parts - egg, larva, pupa and adult.
- There are three main types of butterfly - the true butterflies (called Papilionoidea), which covers all butterflies except the skippers of which there are approximately 3500 species worldwide (from the Hesperiidae family) and American moth-butterflies of which there are 35 recognised species (from the Hedyloidea family).
- Some, like the Monarch butterfly, migrate over long distances, southwards in August and northwards in spring. The journey exceeds the normal two month lifespan of the butterfly, so each migration is completed through three or four generations of butterfly.
- Depending on the species, adult butterflies can live from one week to one year.
- Butterfly larvae, or caterpillars, spend their whole time searching for plant leaves for food, although some species of larvae actually eat other insects.
- Butterfly caterpillars actually have three true pairs of legs that come from their thorax and up to six pairs of prolegs, a fleshy stub structure that comes from their abdomens. These prolegs help them grip, as they contain rings of little hooks called crochets.
- Some caterpillars can actually inflate parts of their heads; some produce a smelly chemical, whilst some have false eye spots to help to defend them against predators. The host plants that the caterpillars eat sometimes contain toxic substances that the caterpillar can then retain and excrete as needed.
- A butterfly actually has four wings and each is covered with small scales. These wings are not interlinked or hooked together, thus allowing more graceful flight.
- Newly formed wings can take anywhere between one to three hours to dry out enough to enable flight. During this time a butterfly will spend time pumping blood to their wings to inflate them and allow them to dry.
- The scales on butterfly wings are what create their colouring, as they are pigmented with melanins to create the black and blue colours. Blues, green and reds are usually created by the photoic crystal microstructure of the scales, and this helps make them iridescent.
- Adult butterflies feed only from liquid - nectar from flowers and water, for sugar and also for sodium and other essential minerals. Male butterflies often need more minerals and nutrients, so will land on dung, rotten fruit and carcasses. Some butterflies actually need more sodium than nectar provides. They often are attracted to human sweat and will land on humans for this reason.
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