Butterfly Life Cycle

Mr. Gemmar S. Tubale

Life cycle is a period in the life of an animal from time it becomes a fertilized egg up to reproduction and death.

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

• Metamorphosis is another word for change.

• The stages in the life cycle of butterfly are egg, larva, pupa and adult.

Laying Butterfly Eggs

• The very first stage of a butterfly life cycle begins with the eggs that the butterfly lays.

• The average number of reported eggs that a butterfly will lay is about 700.

• They only lay one egg at a time, but they can lay many egg in a single day.

• The eggs are about the size of a pinhead.

• The butterflies lay their eggs on the bottom of leaves where they will be protected.

Stage One: The Egg

The female butterfly will lay her eggs under a protective leaf that later will become her baby’s first meal.

The butterfly eggs will take about two to three weeks to hatch.

A caterpillar hatches through the egg by waving its head back and forth pulling its body out slowly.

When the butterfly egg hatches, a caterpillar also known as, a larva will come out.

• Caterpillars or larva are very tiny and are usually a pale green color when they first hatch.

Stage Two: The Larva

• They have strong jaws for chewing leaves:

- Their own egg, is the caterpillars first meal.

- After they eat their egg, they will eat the leaf that their mother had laid them on.

• The caterpillar will eat about thirty or more leaves, and grow 3000 times its original size, before the next stage of its life cycle.

The caterpillar will:

Stage Three: The Pupa

• A hard case called the chrysalis forms around the caterpillar for protection while it is preparing to become a butterfly.

• Start squirting silk, moving from side, creating a silk mat with a tiny knob called a button after shedding its skin for the last time.

• Find a safe strong spot, like a leaf or twig, to hang from.

Stage Four: The Chrysalis

• The green liquid begins to form butterfly parts and the chrysalis becomes more clear.

• A fully clear chrysalis means a butterfly is ready to emerge : come out.

• About three weeks later the chrysalis splits, and the butterfly can make its way out.

• Inside the chrysalis the caterpillar or pupa, becomes a green liquid.

• Now the butterfly is free to travel by air.• The butterfly will drink nectar, instead of chewing leaves.• BAD NEWS: The average butterfly will only live for about two weeks.• GOOD NEWS: Before the butterfly dies it will lay new eggs, out will come new

caterpillars, and eventually,

NEW BUTTERFLIES

Vocabulary words

1. twig – is a small thin terminal branch of a woody plant.

2. Nectar – is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants.

3. Emerge – come out4. Metamorphosis – is

another word for change.

Group activity:

Write the life cycle of a butterfly. (3 minutes)

Write the stages of the following pictures on your notebook. Put 1 – 5 on the blank._________ a. ____________ b.

__________ c. ____________ d.

___________ e.

Answer:a. 2 b. 5 c. 1d. 3e. 4

Answer the question briefly:Compare the caterpillar and the pupa.

Assignment: