There is not a single person who has not admired butterflies. These fragile insects attract not only children, but also adults. The unusual structure of their bodies and the way they are born are surprising and create many questions about butterflies. In biology, these beautiful creatures belong to the order Lepidoptera, phylum arthropods, and class insects.
Description of the structure
The body of a butterfly is divided into 2 large sections - the body and wings. The body includes a head, quite rigidly connected to the body. It has a round shape with a flattened nape. The large eyes, which occupy most of the head, have a round or oval shape, and a complex structure that allows insects to distinguish certain colors and perceive moving objects well.
Many species have additional eyes that are located behind the antennae. The significance of the antennae is to help insects navigate in space, perceive changes in air flow and capture certain odors. Length and structure vary from species to species.
The chest consists of three parts. The first, the smallest, includes three pairs of legs on which spurs are located to ensure the cleanliness of the antennae. The cylindrical abdomen consists of ten segments in the form of rings and spiracles located in them. The wings of the butterfly are covered with small scales, this is clearly visible in the picture created using macro photography. The size of the wings, color, and structure vary depending on the species.
The beauty of a butterfly's wings attracts with its beauty, but the color serves not only to attract the attention of people and the opposite sex among insects, but also to protect against predators. The color of the wings allows them to blend in with the environment, so the color will change depending on the habitat.
Butterfly development: four stages of the life cycle
So, butterflies are insects with complete transformation - they have all four stages of the corresponding life cycle: egg, pupa, caterpillar-larva and imago - an adult insect. Let us consider sequentially the stages of transformation in butterflies.
Egg
First, the adult butterfly lays an egg and thereby gives rise to a new life. Depending on the type, eggs can be round, oval, cylindrical, conical, flattened and even bottle-shaped. Eggs differ not only in shape, but also in color (usually they are white with a green tint, but other colors are not so rare - brown, red, blue, etc.).
Types of representatives
Science knows about 158 thousand representatives of various species of butterflies. Only runaways, this is one of the subspecies, is divided into several types, differing in appearance by a number of other features:
- Cabbage butterfly. A butterfly, the males of which are white with black dots, the females are bright yellow. The size is about 65 mm. They feed on plants.
- Lemongrass. The representative of this species is yellow in color, and the female is white-green. They are united by a red circle located in the center. The wings are made in a very unusual way, with imitation ends cut off with scissors. Its size is about 55 mm.
- White pea. An endangered species of the family. The outer sides of the wings are colored white and gray, while the inner sides are green, allowing her to blend in with the grass.
- Turnip white. It is similar to the cabbage butterfly, but differs in size, which is about 45 mm, and in the number of black spots on the wings. The male has 1 spot, and the female has 2.
- Greenfinch. It has a white color with dark spots and a green pattern; it feeds on cruciferous vegetables, in which it lays its eggs.
- White rapeseed. It is white in color with a yellow pattern and clearly visible veins. Is migratory. For the winter it flies to warmer climes, namely North Africa.
- Alpine whiteweed. It has a white-gray color. In males, the ends of the wings are painted black with white splashes.
- White euphema. It is white with a yellow tint and has a dark spot in the center. The lower wings are decorated with a green pattern. It is a steppe inhabitant.
- Hawthorn. The butterfly is white with clearly visible black veins. Its size is about 60 mm.
- The Siberian is medium in size, yellow-brown in color with a white spot in the center, but the color of the wings can vary from individual to individual and can be black. Uses tree needles for food and egg laying.
- Ringed. The size is about 40 mm. It has a yellow-brown color on the front wings with two dark stripes. The hind wings are a lighter color without stripes. It lays its eggs in the form of a ring, which is how it got its name. It is a tree pest.
- Pine. The butterfly is large (about 80 mm) with a color that resembles pine bark. Flies in the second half of July. Lives in pine forests.
- Admiral. It has an average size of about 55 mm with a velvety surface and a bright color of white spots with a red stripe.
- Peacock eye. A large butterfly, up to 150 mm in size, with a bright red-brown color with an eye pattern at the corners of the wings. This pattern protects the insect by scaring away enemies.
- Swallowtail. An endangered species of butterfly. A multi-colored species of insects, with tails on the lower wings, the most attractive are swallowtails with a yellow color and black spots and veins.
Cocoonworm family
Insects belonging to this family are large or medium in size with a large body that is covered with hairs. They are more like moths, their antennae have bristles, and their front wings are much larger than their hind wings. The main representatives include:
They usually live in groups in trees. Some members of this family are pests.
Blueberry family
Five thousand species of this family are known in nature, some of which are on the verge of extinction and are listed in the Red Book. They are medium in size and bright in color, but depending on the species, the color may vary. A distinctive feature of bluebirds is the colored pattern on the lower wings in the form of eyes. They are not pests; on the contrary, they are beneficial in the form of repelling insect pests.
Bright pieds
Includes about 1,200 species, most of which live in the tropics. They range in size from medium to large and are brightly colored with a rainbow pattern. It is needed to warn that the insect is poisonous, and if life is threatened, it will defend itself by secreting a poisonous liquid that has a pungent odor. Among the main representatives are :
It prefers the leaves of legumes as food, which is a distinctive characteristic.
Where do caterpillars come from: the life cycle of butterflies
An adult butterfly, after mating, lays many eggs, from which caterpillars emerge. Under comfortable conditions, this takes up to 2 weeks, depending on the type.
When born, the larvae reach a size of up to 1 mm. Despite their small size, they have a fairly large appetite, so they eat a lot, and because of this they quickly increase in size. At the caterpillar stage, the larvae molt up to 4 times, although there are species that molt up to 16 times. In this case, much depends on the living conditions and type of insects. In our regions, females lay eggs up to 2 times, and it takes up to one and a half months to become a pupa.
Wherever caterpillars are found. They feed on the green mass or juices of these plants. At the moth stage, the insect may not eat anything or feed on the nectar of flowers, juices of berries and fruits. So an insect can live, depending on the species, for several days or months.
Interesting Facts! In colder regions, the larva does not have time to transform into a moth during the warm season, so it overwinters in this state, and with the onset of warm weather it continues its transformation again. Some species inhabiting northern latitudes are able to withstand cold temperatures below -70 degrees. In Holland and Canada, some species of caterpillars take several years to become butterflies.
Before the larva turns into a moth, it independently forms a cocoon from the threads it produces. At the same time, it can attach its paws to any hard surface. After this, one of the most unique phenomena occurs - the transformation of a caterpillar into a moth.
Nutritional Features
Basically, insects prefer to eat pollen, flower nectar, tree sap, overripe fruits, but there are also special species that are picky eaters. For example, the hawk moth, a honey lover, enters the hive and enjoys its favorite food. Some members of the nymphalid family replenish moisture loss by eating the urine and sweat of wild and domestic animals. Some tropical butterflies prefer crocodile tears as moisture.
Insects, which do not have a mouthpart at all and live extremely short lives, use supplies that were made when the caterpillar found it. Some types of butterflies are real vampires. They replenish lost strength by consuming animal blood.
Conversion process
Depending on the climate zone, as well as the type of insect, the process of degeneration can take from 2 days to 14 years. In our regions this process takes up to 2 weeks.
The transformation process itself is called metamorphosis, or more precisely, holometamorphosis, since the larva does not transform completely and some parts remain from it, mainly the paws. This term characterizes the complete transformation (degeneration) of forms, just as a glass or other forms are obtained from a melted bottle, which are radically different from the shape of the bottle.
Although the cocoon always remains motionless in appearance, quite complex and unique processes take place inside it. The caterpillar's body acquires a liquid consistency with imaginal discs, which essentially represent stem cells. These cells are unique in that they subsequently form various tissues and organs of the moth.
When the process is completed and the butterfly is already in the cocoon, it secretes a special substance that allows it to get rid of the cocoon. The head emerges from the cocoon first, then the body, and finally the legs. After birth, the butterfly sits motionless for some time and waits for its wings to dry. After which she goes on a journey to find herself a representative of the opposite sex. After mating, the butterfly will lay eggs, from which larvae will appear, etc.
Amazing transformation
