Butterfly Life Cycle 

We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-colored wings. But did you know that these beautiful flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation – a process known as “metamorphosis“.

There are four stages in the metamorphosis of butterflies and moths: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

• Eggs are laid on plants by the adult female butterfly. These plants will then become the food for the hatching caterpillars. Butterfly eggs can be very small.

• The next stage is the larva. This is also called a caterpillar if the insect is a butterfly or a moth.

• The job of the caterpillar is to eat and eat and eat. As the caterpillar grows it splits its skin and sheds it about 4 or 5 times. Food eaten at this time is stored and used later as an adult.
• When the caterpillar is full grown and stops eating, it becomes a pupa. The pupa of butterflies is also called a chrysalis. Depending on the species, the pupa may suspended under a branch, hidden in leaves or buried underground. The pupa of many moths is protected inside a coccoon of silk. This stage can last from a few weeks, a month or even longer. Some species have a pupal stage that lasts for two years.
• The adult stage is what most people think of when they think of butterflies. They look very different from the larva. The caterpillar has a few tiny eyes, stubby legs and very short antennae. The adults have long legs, long antennae, and compound eyes. They can also fly by using their large and colorful wings. 

This month for our Fab-Pac, every kid gets to take home a kit to create their own Butterfly Life Cycle. They've been learning so much about bugs and insects that they are so excited for this project! We all love butterflies so why not learn a little more about them.