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Butterflies belong to the order of lepidoptera which in Greek means scale wing.
There are about 24,000 species of butterflies.
Butterflies range in size from 1/8 inch to a huge almost 12 inches
The wings of butterflies are transparent. The iridescent colors found on the wings are produced by bending light, not by pigmentation.
The top butterfly flight speed is 12 miles per hour.
Monarch butterflies journey from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico a distance of about 2,000 miles and return to the north again in the spring.
Butterflies can see red, green and yellow.
Butterflies have six legs and feet. The Monarch’s front legs are tucked up under the body and are difficult to see.
Butterflies taste with their feet which have taste sensors. They find out whether the leaf they are sitting on is good to lay eggs on to be the caterpillars food.
Butterflies don’t have mouths that allow them to bite or chew. They have a long straw-like structure called a proboscis which they use to drink nectar and juices.
When not is use the proboscis remains coiled like a garden hose.
Butterflies can also be seen feeding on rotting fruit, tree sap, fluids from animal carcasses and mud puddles.
“Puddle Clubs” are groups of butterflies (usually males) that gather around mud puddles and other moist areas of soil to suck up salts and dissolved minerals.
A caterpillar grows about 27,000 times larger than when it first emerged from the egg.
A caterpillar’s skin does not grow along with it. Therefore, it sheds the skin as it becomes too tight. Most caterpillars molt five times before entering the pupa stage.
Butterflies do not spin cocoons. Moths spin cocoons.
Caterpillars shed their final skin to reveal the pupa and the outer skin of this pupa hardens to form a chrysalis. The chrysalis protects and hides the amazing transformation that is occurring inside.
Butterfly Symbolism
Representations of butterflies are seen in Egyptian frescos at Thebes, which are 35,000 years old.
Butterflies represent the process of transformation and shape shifting.
Since butterflies transform from simple caterpillars into beautiful winged creatures of all different colors, they also represent life and growth.
The butterfly moves easily from one stage of the life cycle to the next; therefore, they help teach us that change can be smooth instead of traumatic.
Butterflies also awaken a sense of lightness and joy reminding us not to take things quite so seriously within our own lives.
They symbolize joy, color, change and the essence of the soul.
