A Butterfly’s LifeBy Ellie D

A butterfly's first stage is the egg. The adult caterpillar lays the eggs, usually about 1000 or more. In 7-20 days, the eggs hatch as the next stage, the Caterpillar.

Egg

The larva stage is one of the two stages where they eat!When a butterfly is in its larva stage, it eats leaves and greens. This stage is fun to watch, but gets boring fast! Mainly all they do is eat leaves and munch on greens, but soon it will start to do something amazing and interesting!

Larva (Caterpillar)

The pupa stage I think is most interesting. First it will start spinning silk on the branch of a tree. Then it will form a coating around it called a chrysalis. It will stay inside for about 3 ½ weeks. It will seem as if nothing is happening, but really there is a big change happening in that chrysalis. When it comes out, it has started the 4th and last stage!

Pupa (Chrysalis)

When the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, it will attach its claws on to a leaf and stretch out its wing until they are dry. This will usually take about 2 hours. Then it will fly away and plant new eggs on a leaf. It will live for three weeks but then die. Then those eggs will hatch and the life cycle will start again!

Adult (Butterfly)

The End!

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