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Why do you think metamorphosis is essential for the butterfly? What advantages does it offer?

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By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify and describe each stage of the butterfly's life cycle.

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Students will understand the concept of metamorphosis and its importance in the life cycle of a butterfly.

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Why is it vital for a butterfly to lay its eggs on the right type of plant?

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Learn how to recognize and describe the stages of a butterfly life cycle.
Butterfly Life Cycle Activity Instructions
Ages: 5-8 years
Time Required: 20-30 minutes

Materials

Activity Sheet (print or trace)

Scissors

Crayons and/or markers

Try This!

Step 1: Trace the shape and patterns from the activity sheet on a piece of paper or print the activity sheet.

Step 2: Cut out the traced shape, and flip it over to the blank side. Draw a butterfly pattern on this side (you can see an example on the activity sheet).

Step 3: Fold the butterfly in half along the long end to reveal the caterpillar and egg on one side, and the chrysalis on the other. You can color the caterpillar and then flip it and color the chrysalis.

Step 4: On the caterpillar side, if you fold the paper in half again on the short end, you will reveal the egg.

Step 5: When you unfold the paper, on the opposite side you will have the adult stage butterfly.

What's Going On?

Metamorphosis is a series of major changes in an animal's body form as it moves through its life cycle. Butterflies and moths undergo a complete metamorphosis, which means there are four separate stages in the life cycle (egg, larva, pupa, and adult). Each stage looks completely different and serves a different purpose in the life of the insect.

Egg Stage: Female Lepidoptera (the group butterflies and moths belong in) often require specific plants, called host plants, on which to lay eggs. A butterfly usually lays 200-500 eggs which vary in shape and size depending on the species. Most species hatch in four to five days, while others may take as long as three weeks.

Larva Stage: When the eggs hatch, tiny caterpillars begin feeding and growing. Its first meal is usually the eggshell, which provides it with important nutrients. Then it will begin eating the host plant. Almost all caterpillars eat leaves but some eat stems, roots, fruits, seeds, seed pods or flowers. They will eat only the host plant and will not move to any adjacent plant of a different species - even if it runs out of food. As they eat and their bodies expand, their skin (an exoskeleton with a limited stretching capacity) becomes tight and eventually splits and sheds, revealing new skin beneath. This is called molting and occurs several times as the larva grows.

Pupa Stage: When the caterpillar has grown enough, it finds a protected spot, molts for the last time, and forms an encasement in which they metamorphose. During this stage, most moth caterpillars spin a silken cocoon while most butterfly caterpillars form a chrysalis. The pupa undergoes tremendous change. The caterpillar releases digestive juices that break down most of its body into a "tissue cell soup" from which it develops four wings, new legs, new eyes, new mouthparts, and genitalia. When the insect emerges, its metamorphosis is complete.

Adult Stage: The fully developed adult splits the pupal case open, crawls out and hangs upside down to facilitate stretching and drying its wings. Its wings are inflated by pumping fluid into the wing veins. At this stage, the wings are very soft and wet and the butterfly/moth must remain suspended while waiting up to two hours for its wings to dry. Once the wings are stretched and dried, the adult flies off to feed, find a mate and begin the cycle again. The average adult lifespan is two weeks but ranges from several days to as long as 11 months.

Extension Activity

The best way to observe any of the butterfly life cycle stages in the wild is to find a host plant. Learn what are the host plants of some of the species of butterflies you can find around your home. You can visit iNaturalist.org to see what butterflies you might have nearby and the host plants. Try planting some of these host plant species in your yard or go out to a park and find them to try to find a butterfly in any of the life cycle stages. If you are lucky you might find some eggs hidden underneath leaves, or caterpillars eating leaves, or a butterfly feeding or laying its eggs.

Additional Resources

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Learn how to recognize and describe the stages of a butterfly life cycle. Butterfly Life Cycle Activity Instructions Ages: 5-8 years Time Required: 20-30 minutes Materials Activity Sheet (print or trace) Scissors Crayons and/or markers Try This! Step 1: Trace the shape and patte

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Body: Adult butterflies live for only a few weeks to several months. Why do you think their adult life is so short?

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A simple, interactive story and sequencing activity about the lifecycle of a butterfly. | Lifecycle Of A Butterfly Emily Metzer | Tinypedia - Learn a collection of facts and information., Science & Nature - Learn about science by studying the world around them and all that is in it., Language Stud…

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The butterfly life cycle - National Geographic Lesson

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The butterfly life cycle - National Geographic Lesson

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We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings. But did you know that these fab flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation - a process known as " metamorphosis ".

Join Nat Geo Kids as we follow the life-cycle of this quirky creature, from the egg to the air!

It all starts when a female butterfly lays her eggs, usually on leaves or stems of plants. Inside these tiny eggs, caterpillars grow. Depending on the species, the eggs can vary in shape and texture - they can be round, oval or cylindrical, and smooth, bumpy or wrinkled. The time it takes for the eggs to hatch can also vary - in some species, they will hatch within a few weeks and in others they will only hatch once the weather is warm enough.

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Stage 2: the caterpillar

Once ready, the caterpillar leaves its egg home and enters the big outside world! And these little critters have one serious appetite - they actually eat their way out of the egg and immediately start chomping on the leaves of the host plant. During this stage, they shed their skin four or five times - as the caterpillar grows, its skin becomes too tight and splits open, revealing a new, larger skin underneath. A fully grown caterpillar can be over 100 times larger than when it emerged from its egg. Wow!

Once fully grown, the caterpillar forms itself into a "pupa" (or chrysalis) - a kind of vessel in which the caterpillar changes into a butterfly. They usually do this on twigs or safe, hidden areas around the host plant. The "pupa" stage may last a few weeks to several months depending on the species. During this time, a hardened case forms around the pupa to protect it from predators and extreme weather conditions. And inside, the tissue, limbs and organs of the caterpillar transform. The result? A wonderful winged butterfly!

Once the butterfly is ready to emerge, the case around the pupa splits open. But it's not time for take off just yet, as the wings are at first wet, soft and wrinkled against its body. The butterfly waits for its wings to dry, and pumps a liquid called hemolymph into them so that they become big and strong. Once fit for flight, this brilliant bug then takes to the air in search for flowers to feed on and for other butterflies to mate with.

And that's the cycle complete - and ready to start all over again!

DID YOU KNOW?
Moths also go through this process of metamorphosis. Check out the four stages of the Atlas moth, below - the largest moth in the world!

Images: Atlas moth: Butterfly World. All other images: Getty Images UK. Monarch butterfly on flower: James Laurie, Shutterstock.

Cool, huh? Did you enjoy learning about the butterfly life cycle? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings. But did you know that these fab flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation - a process known as " metamorphosis ". Join Nat Geo Kids as we follow the life-cycle of this quirky creature, from the egg to the air!

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The Life Cycle of a Butterfly - Science for Kids