Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Stage 1: The Egg The female butterfly lays an egg on a leaf or stem.
Stage 2: The Caterpillar The caterpillar hatches from the eggs about 5 days later. First the caterpillar eats his eggshell and then lots of leaves. The caterpillar is also called the larva.
After a few weeks the caterpillar stops eating and growing and looks for a place to change.
Stage 3: The Pupa or Chrysalis The caterpillar sheds its skin for the last time and becomes a pupa. The pupa stays inside a hard shell called a chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis, the pupa is changing his body.
Stage 4: The Butterfly Out of the chrysalis comes a beautiful butterfly! The butterfly looks for another butterfly to mate with. After mating, the female butterfly lays her eggs. Adult butterflies usually live for only 2 weeks!
Butterfly Facts Butterflies can see red, green, and yellow. Butterflies have four wings. They have antennae that help them see. Female butterflies are bigger than male butterflies. A butterfly flies from flower to flower drinking nectar.