Butterflies

Butterflies are like birds in many ways. 
They fly, of course.  And, they lay eggs.
There is one very big difference, however. 
Songbirds feed their babies until they grow large
enough to leave the nest.

Butterflies are insects.  They do not feed their babies.  Instead, they lay their eggs on plant leaves that they know their babies will like to eat. 
(Butterfly babies are called caterpillars.) 
Butterfly babies, caterpillars, do not look
like their parents at all. 
Instead of having beautiful wings,
caterpillars have lots of legs for crawling.  
Instead of sipping nectar from flowers,
caterpillars eat leaves for food.

Butterfly babies are very picky about the kinds of foods they like.  So,
female butterflies must be very careful about where they lay their eggs.

Monarch caterpillars will only eat plants that are in the milkweed family.

So, the female butterfly lays her eggs on milkweed plants.  When the eggs hatch, the little caterpillars eat and eat and grow and grow. 
Then, one day, the caterpillar knows that it is time for it to become a full-grown butterfly with wings, instead of a creepy, crawly caterpillar.

When the caterpillar knows that it is time to change, it attaches itself to a twig.  Then it begins to shed its caterpillar skin.  Underneath its caterpillar skin is a sticky substance called chitin (pronounced ki-tin--that's a long i after the k).
After the caterpillar completely sheds its skin, the chitin begins to get hard and make a thin shell.  This shell is called a chrysalis
(pronounced kris-a-lis).

Then, something really amazing begins to happen.  All of the caterpillar parts that are inside of the chrysalis begin to change. 
They turn into butterfly parts.

This amazing change is called metamorphosis. 
(Pronounced met-a-mor-fo-sis.)

When the change is complete, the butterfly is ready to come out of the shell.  Butterflies always come out in the morning.  This is a really special time.  On the morning that the butterfly will emerge, the chrysalis shell becomes clear--transparent.  The pretty butterfly wings show through.  This is called coloring up.  A few hours after the chrysalis colors up, it will split open.  The butterfly will emerge.

When the butterfly first emerges, its wings are shriveled
and its body is big and fat.  Soon, the butterfly will begin to
pump fluid from its body into the veins in its wings. 
The wings will begin to expand until they are smooth and flat. 
The butterfly also has to fix its new mouth. 
The butterflies mouth is a long tube, called a proboscis
(pronounced pro-bos-is). 
The tube is kind of like a tiny little hose. 
However, when the butterfly first emerges,
the hose is in two parts. 
It is a hollow tube that is split down the middle. 
The butterfly will stretch out the two parts of the tube
until they are lined up just right. 
Then, the two parts will join, kind of like with Velcro.
The butterfly now has a long, flexible straw to dip into flowers. 
Now the butterfly can sip the sweet liquid that flowers make.
This liquid is called nectar.

To learn more about butterflies, click here.

songbirds