In a previous edition of The KIDS Herald, we talked about “Butterfly Season,” which is what we call it when we see lots and lots of butterflies fluttering about.
When you look outside, you will mostly see two types of butterflies. Most are yellow, and some are orange with black markings. The orange ones also look wider than the yellow ones.
We learned that the yellow one is called a Great Southern White – and while it is here all year round, the rain is providing lots of nice green leaves for the caterpillars to eat, and that is resulting in a bigger butterfly population.
We also learned that the orange one is called a Gulf Fritillary, and that those are pickier eaters. They eat leaves of plants from the passion fruit group, while the caterpillars that become Great Southern Whites eat all sorts of plants.
We know that butterflies undergo complete “metamorphosis,” which is a word that means “to transform or change shape” in Greek. Let’s look into that in a little more detail.
The Metamorphosis
Egg stage
Mother butterflies fly around from plant to plant, looking for the perfect one to lay eggs on. They lay tiny eggs under leaves that the caterpillars can later eat. When the baby caterpillars are ready to come out of the eggs, they chew their way out.
Larva stage
The caterpillars emerge from the eggs very hungry; they eat their eggshell, the leaf they are on, and other leaves, too. Eventually, they get too big for their exoskeletons. An exoskeleton is a hard covering that many animals without backbones have. It literally means “outside skeleton.”
The caterpillars shed their exoskeleton, and have softer ones underneath. These are a bit tight, so the caterpillars gulp in air to expand themselves, and then wait to let the exoskeletons harden. This happens about four to five times as the caterpillars keep growing.
Pupa stage
When they are big enough, they hang upside down from a sturdy branch or stem and grow a protective layer called a chrysalis. Inside, they are called a “pupa” – an insect in the inactive, transformative stage between larva and adult. They regrow their six legs, and antennas, and add wings. The chrysalis is hard, and protects the soft pupa inside.
Butterfly stage
After the transformation, an adult butterfly emerges, cracking open the chrysalis. The wings are fully formed, but at first they are still crumpled and wet. The butterfly pumps blood to the wings, which helps to straighten them out, and dry. Then the butterfly is ready to fly!
Much of this information was compiled through the St. Martin Fruits de Mer Association (The Incomplete Guide to the Wildlife of Saint Martin), and the programme SciShow Kids. All picture credits: Jan Dauphin, who captured the many stages of the life cycle on camera. If you want to see more, ask an adult to help you visit http://www.thedauphins.net
