Information about: Butterfly

Index | Butterfly


Note: Information is dated. Do not rely on it.

Butterfly. The butterflies belong to the order Lepidoptera or scaly-winged insects. The antennae terminate in club-shaped knobs. They fly only by day, and when at rest they hold their wings erect above the back. One of the most remarkable and interesting circumstances connected with these beautiful insects is their series of transformations before reaching a perfect state. The female butterfly lays a great quantity of eggs, which produce larvae, commonly called caterpillars. After a short life these assume a new form, and become chrysalids or pupae. These chrysalids are attached to other objects in various ways, and are of various forms; they often have brilliant golden or argentine spots. Within its covering the insect develops, to emerge as the active and brilliant butterfly. These insects in their perfect form suck the nectar of plants, but take little food, and are all believed to be short lived, their work in the perfect state being almost entirely confined to the propagation of the species.