Butterflies are Lepidoptera, related to insects having a complete transformation cycle. Their distinctive feature from other representatives of the squad is the presence of chitinous scales on the hind and front wings. These elements have the finest optical components, which, when interacting with ultraviolet light, allow you to see a color scheme that the human eye does not perceive.
To find out how the butterfly develops, first you need to understand what a complete transformation cycle involves. This process contains the following steps:
- stage of the egg;
- caterpillar stage (larvae);
- pupal stage;
- stage of an adult insect (imago).
Just as butterflies develop, they turn into adults and other representatives of Lepidoptera - moths and moths.
Mating butterflies
So, to understand how the butterfly develops, you need to start with the main stage of the life cycle - mating. Important factors in breeding are the shape of the wings and their color, as well as courtship options - dancing and mating. Males can detect a female at a distance of more than one kilometer. Pheromones, as well as odorous scales located on the legs or wings, allow partners to find each other.
Mating of these insects occurs on plants or on the ground within 20-25 minutes to several hours. All this time individuals are motionless. By mating, the female gets the opportunity to get sperm, trace elements and proteins from the male. It is the last two components that play a large role in the formation and laying of eggs. In some species of butterflies in females, after mating, an appendage of chitin arises on the abdomen, which the male forms at the end of the process. It is necessary in order to exclude the possibility of fertilization repeatedly with another male.
Egg stage
The first in the life cycle of a butterfly is an egg. They have a diverse shape in butterflies and a fairly hard shell. They are angular, round, spherical. Their outer surface is embossed with symmetrical tubercles and depressions. The color scheme has a transition from white to green, sometimes there is a color picture on the outer surface.
Typically, females can lay more than 1000 eggs in one clutch. Depending on the species of these insects, they can leave them as a group of up to 10 pieces, or individually. The egg stage lasts from 8 to 15 days.
Caterpillar stage
Butterfly larva is a worm-shaped caterpillar. She has a pronounced gnawing mouth apparatus. The caterpillar has special salivary glands that produce a secret, which, hardening in the air, forms a silk thread. Larvae are mainly phytophages, that is, their food is flowers, leaves and fruits of plants.
There are also types of caterpillars that eat the larvae of ants, aphids and mealybugs. These species are predators. On the body of the caterpillar there are 10 abdominal ones with five pairs of thick legs and 3 chest ones with three pairs of jointed segments. The body has smooth skin with spikes, warts and hairs. Usually caterpillars live on the earth, trees, bushes, but some of them, for example, wide-winged ognevki, can live under water. They can be divided into two large groups:
- caterpillars prone to a free lifestyle;
- caterpillars prone to a hidden lifestyle.
The latter build portable cases from silky threads, in which they live. They carry it on themselves and hide in it. Also, caterpillars in the form of a shelter build a cigar-shaped cover of leaves for themselves, having sealed it previously with silk thread. The butterfly development cycle at this stage can last several years. Caterpillars of the northern latitudes can fall into a diapause state until the next summer. For example, the life cycle of the larva of the Piper, which lives in Greenland, can last up to 14 years.
Chrysalis stage
In butterflies, pupae are inactive. The main type characteristic of Lepidoptera is glued. In some families, such as cocoonworms, the pupa lives inside a cocoon that has been woven by a caterpillar. The shape is cylindrical, sometimes round. The color scheme - from light to dark with stripes and splashes. Usually, the pupa is located inside glued leaves on the trunks and flowers of plants with clearly visible rudiments of the abdomen, wings, legs, and proboscis. There is no nutrition at this stage of development.
Insect stage
An adult, a fully formed insect emerging from a pupa, is called an "imago". At this stage of butterfly development, the magical metamorphosis ends. The pupa acquires an oily transparent shell about a day before the insect leaves it. Then the imago creeps out, tearing hard covers. Mostly females go outside later than males. When the butterfly hardens, spreads, and the final color appears on them, then the insect will fly. The imago has puberty and can reproduce. This sequence of butterfly development allows you to respond to changes in nature. For example, to improve or worsen climatic conditions, rainfall, temperature.
So, having figured out how the butterfly develops, we solved another mystery in nature - how really it became possible to magically transform from a green unsightly caterpillar into a beautiful flying insect.