All About Butterflies

Katie Santorelli

1st Grade, Science

Click the butterfly to find

out more!

ButterfliesButterflies are beautiful insects that can fly. There is a lot to know about butterflies! We

can learn about their life cycle, fun facts and other interesting information about them! Click on the links below to jump ahead and

find out more about butterflies!

Vocabulary List Life Cycle of Butterflies

Caterpillar and Butterfly Defense Mechanisms

Multiple Choice QuestionDifferent Types of ButterfliesFun Facts about Butterflies

The End!

Vocabulary List

Pollen: the substance that causes plants to form seeds. Predators: any animal that lives by preying on other animals. Shed: get rid of hair, skin, horn, or feathers.Characteristics: a quality of a person or object.Poisonous: anything that harms or destroysOdor: smellThreatened: likely in the near future to become endangered.

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Life Cycle of Butterflies Butterflies go through four different stages throughout their lives. These four stages include: egg, caterpillar

(larva), chrysalis (pupa), and butterfly (adult). Let’s learn about each stage a butterfly goes through!

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1. Egg

2. Caterpillar

3. Chrysalis4. Butterfly

Click the pictures to find out more about each stage!

EggBefore a butterfly is born, they start out in a little, tiny

egg. The mother puts the egg on a leaf or stem so when the egg hatches, the caterpillar has food to eat.

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Caterpillar (Larva)

After the egg has hatched, the caterpillar, also known as the larva, begins to start their feeding and growth stage. The caterpillar is long like a worm and has patterns or stripes. They can even feel fuzzy! The caterpillar sheds its skin more than four times because it is growing so quickly!

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Chrysalis (Pupa)

Next, is the chrysalis, which can also be called the pupa. This is the resting and changing stage for the caterpillar. During this time, the caterpillar changes and forms the characteristics a butterfly has. The chrysalis is usually brown or green so it blends in with trees, branches and

leaves. This protects them. Main Menu

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Butterfly (Adult) Finally, a butterfly arrives! The butterfly will crawl out of

the chrysalis and have its wings stuck to them. When the butterfly first comes out, they need to rest so they can learn to fly. After a lot of practice, butterflies can fly. They are very colorful and you see them mostly in the

summer and spring!

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Caterpillar and Butterfly Defense Mechanisms

Caterpillars

• Can be poisonous to predators

• Camouflage into their backgrounds (leaves, plants, trees)

• Eyespots: some caterpillars have a marking on their bodies that make it look like they are a bigger and more dangerous animal and that scares them away.

• Bad smells: some caterpillars form a bad odor when they feel threatened and that can turn away predators.

• Hiding: caterpillars can hide in a folded leaf or other hiding spots to hide from predators

Butterflies• Camouflage into their

backgrounds and can be mistaken for a dead leaf.

• Butterflies can be poisonous. If a predator eats a poisonous butterfly, they will get very sick which will teach them to stay away from these types of insects.

• Flying: When a butterfly feels threatened, they are able to fly away. The fastest butterfly can fly up to 30 mph and the slowest can fly up to 5 mph!

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Different Types of Butterflies

MonarchPainted Lady

ViceroyRed-Spotted Purple

BuckeyeZebra Longwing

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Click on the pictures to find out about each butterfly!

Monarch

These butterflies are the most

common that we see in the spring

and summer! The Monarch butterfly

is black and orange. In the winter,

they travel down to Mexico to stay

warm.

Click on the caterpillar to return to: Different Types of Butterflies

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Painted Lady

This butterfly can also be called the thistle butterfly. The wings of the Painted Lady are orange and brown. At the

upper corners of the wings, there are white and black spots.

Click on the caterpillar to return to: Different Types of Butterflies

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Viceroy

Like the Monarch butterfly, the Viceroy butterfly has black and orange wings. The difference between the two

is that the Viceroy butterfly is much smaller than the Monarch.

Click on the caterpillar to return to: Different Types of Butterflies

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Red-Spotted PurpleThis butterfly is one of the fastest butterflies out there! You can usually find them sitting in gardens or rotting

fruits. They have a lot of different colors on them. The top of the wings are blue with red and white spots. The

bottom of the wings are reddish brown with orange spots.

Click on the caterpillar to return to: Different Types of Butterflies

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Buckeye

This butterfly can be seen in the United States and in

Mexico. This butterfly has brown and orange wings with

spots on them that look like eyes. This protects them

from predators.

Click on the caterpillar to return to: Different Types of Butterflies

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Zebra Longwing

This type of butterfly is

one of the longest living

butterflies. They have

black and white stripes

just like a zebra! They

can be found in both

Mexico and the United

States. Zebra Longwings

like to eat pollen.

Click on the caterpillar to return to: Different Types of Butterflies

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Fun Facts About Butterflies

• Butterflies taste with their feet• Butterflies cannot fly if it is too cold out.• Butterflies do not have a mouth.• Butterflies can only see the colors: green, red and

yellow.• Butterflies skeletons are on the outside of their bodies.

This is so the water stays inside of them and they do not dry out.• Butterflies need sun to fly.

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What is the correct order of the butterfly life cycle?

A. Chrysalis (Pupa), Butterfly (Adult), Egg, Caterpillar (Larva)

B. Egg, Caterpillar (Larva), Chrysalis (Pupa), Butterfly (Adult)

C. Butterfly (Adult), Caterpillar (Larva), Chrysalis (Pupa), Egg

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Nice Try! Try again!

Butterflies can not start their life cycle out in the chrysalis because they form the chrysalis after they are a

caterpillar and before they are a butterfly!

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Correct! The life cycle of a butterfly goes through these four

stages in order:1. Egg

2. Caterpillar (Larva)3. Chrysalis (Pupa)4. Butterfly (Adult)

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Nice Try! Try Again

Butterflies start out as a small egg and go through three other stages before they enter the final stage, the

butterfly (adult) stage!

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The End!

The next time you see a butterfly, tell a friend all of the new information you learned about them!

Don’t forget to click “Return to Title Slide” when you are done!

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