Butterflies are beautiful insects with colorful wings that flutter from flower to flower. They start life as tiny eggs, then become hungry caterpillars before turning into butterflies. Let's flutter into some fun butterfly facts!
🦋 Butterfly quick facts
- Animal type
- Insect
- Home
- Every continent except Antarctica
- Food
- Flower nectar (caterpillars eat leaves)
- Size
- Wingspans from about half an inch to almost 1 foot (30 cm)
- Life span
- From about a week to several months as an adult
25 Butterfly Facts for Kids
- There are about 17,500 kinds of butterflies in the world.
- Butterflies live on every continent except Antarctica.
- A butterfly's life has four stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult butterfly.
- This amazing change is called metamorphosis.
- Caterpillars eat and eat and grow very quickly, shedding their skin several times.
- Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar's body turns into a butterfly.
- Butterflies have four wings: two front wings and two back wings.
- Butterfly wings are covered in thousands of tiny scales that give them their colors.
- Butterflies taste with their feet!
- Butterflies drink nectar from flowers through a long tube called a proboscis, like a straw.
- When a butterfly isn't drinking, it curls its proboscis up into a spiral.
- Butterflies help flowers grow by carrying pollen from one flower to another.
- Butterflies need warm sunshine to fly, so they often bask in the sun to warm up.
- Butterflies see colors that people can't see, including ultraviolet light.
- Monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles between Canada, the United States and Mexico.
- The monarch caterpillar eats only milkweed plants.
- Eating milkweed makes monarchs taste bad to birds, and their bright orange color is a warning.
- Some butterflies have spots on their wings that look like big eyes to scare away predators.
- The Queen Alexandra's birdwing is the largest butterfly, with wings almost 1 foot (30 cm) across.
- Some tiny butterflies have wings only about half an inch wide.
- The glasswing butterfly has see-through wings!
- Butterflies have two antennae with little knobs on the ends, which help them smell and balance.
- Many adult butterflies live only a few weeks, but some live for several months.
- Butterflies and moths are cousins. Most moths fly at night, while most butterflies fly in the daytime.
- Planting flowers like milkweed and lavender helps butterflies find food.
Questions kids ask about butterflies
How does a caterpillar turn into a butterfly?
The caterpillar makes a chrysalis around itself. Inside, its body completely changes over a few weeks, and then a butterfly comes out. This is called metamorphosis.
What do butterflies eat?
Adult butterflies drink sweet nectar from flowers using a straw-like tongue called a proboscis. Caterpillars eat leaves.
How long do butterflies live?
Many butterflies live only a few weeks as adults, but some, like the monarchs that migrate, can live for several months.
Why are butterflies colorful?
Their wings are covered in tiny scales. Bright colors can help butterflies find each other, warn predators that they taste bad, or help them hide.
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