Butterflies, the Colorful Wonder of Nature

Butterflies are the most beautiful and fascinating creations of Mother Nature. Butterflies belong to the insect world and they are called the winged flowers of the insect world.  Butterflies belong to Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Arthropoda, Class Insecta and Oder Lepidoptera. Under the sub-order Rhopalocera, there are three super families of Butterflies. They are Hedyloidae, Hesperioidae, and Papilionoidae. There are about 20,000 species of butterflies in our planet.

Butterflies have colorful wings with beautiful pattern.  The designs on the wings of the butterflies are unique. Butterflies have six legs, four wings, and two antennae. They are harmless. Butterflies are found everywhere except Antarctica.

Body of the butterflies are divided into head, thorax and abdomen. They have their skeleton around their bodies. Life cycle of a butterfly is in four stages. They are egg, larva, pupa and the adult butterfly. Their larvae are known as caterpillars. The life span of adult female butterflies of most species live about two weeks, with males living for slightly less time.

Female adult butterflies lay lots of eggs in thousands because only a few of them develop into the larval stage. The caterpillar stage of a butterfly is an herbivore and continuously feeds on the leaves to undergo growth and development.

The pupa stage is the third phase in the life cycle of a butterfly. In this phase pupa is transformed into butterfly. Pupa stage is the resting phase of the butterfly. The pupa stage is vulnerable to predators as it is stationary. They camouflage themselves with the color and the texture of their surroundings to prevent the detection of enemies.

Butterfly feed on nectar of flowers and other liquids through a small pipe under their heads. This pipe is called proboscis. In order to survive a butterfly needs food, shelter and air to breathe. Most butterflies will get their food needs from the nectar found in flowers, which they suck up with their proboscis, but some butterflies also may suck tea sap etc.

Butterflies shelter themselves in roosts. These roosts are any kind of plant with a good hiding space such as tall grass, shrubs, underneath leaves and even in caves. Butterflies will also hide underneath human items including fences.  The butterflies also must be able to breathe air in order to survive and cannot stay trapped in a place, such as a jar, without any air holes. 

Butterflies use their antennae to sense the air for scents. The antennae contain sensory organs known as sensillae. The shape, color and the structure of the antennae vary from species to species though their function remains the same.  

Butterflies have a pair of compound eyes.  It uses color vision when searching for food, and is sensitive to UV, violet, blue, green, and red wavelength peaks, suggesting color constancy. In nature, these butterflies feed on nectar provided by flowers of various colors not only in direct sunlight, but also in shaded places and on cloudy days. They have ultraviolet vision.

Butterflies taste their food with the help of chemo-receptors located at their feet. Butterflies have a pair of compound eyes. Vision is well developed in butterflies and most species are sensitive to ultraviolet spectrum. Some of the species have color vision.

Butterflies have two pairs of large and colorful wings, covered with scales. The wings are attached to their thorax. Veins support the wings and ensure blood supply. The scales, which are arranged in colorful designs unique to each species, are what gives the butterfly its beauty. 

Butterflies are cold blooded, meaning they cannot regulate their own body temperature. As a result, their body temperature changes with the temperature of their surroundings. If they get too cold, they are unable to fly and must warm up their muscles in order to resume flight.

Butterflies can fly as long as the air is between 60°-108° F, although temperatures between 82°-100° F are best. If the temperature drops too low, they may seek a light colored rock, sand or a leaf in a sunny spot and bask. Butterflies bask with their wings spread out in order to soak up the sun's heat.

Butterflies have good control over their flight movements so that they can make sudden landings. Speed of the butterfly varies from species to species. Speed of the poisonous species of butterflies are slower than the speed of the non-poisonous species. 

Butterflies protect themselves from predators through variety of tricks. The most common is chemical defense. Many plants produce poisonous chemicals to protect themselves from creatures that eat them. Butterflies use these poisonous chemicals produced by the plants to protect themselves from their enemies.

Camouflage is another technique that butterflies use to escape from their enemies. It is a technique of balancing and blending with the color of the surroundings to hide from their enemies. Some species of butterflies mimic their neighboring poisonous species to evade their enemies. They mimic their neighboring species by copying the colour pattern and produce an unpleasant smell and taste.

Butterflies hibernate by slowing down their body functions and live without food. Some butterflies can fly 50KMs per hour or even faster. Slow flying butterflies fly about 10KMs per hour.

We know about migration of birds. Butterflies too migrate only to one place from the place of their birth. Researchers are still to find out the reason behind their migration. Birds migrate during bad weather but butterflies migrate when the weather improves.

Many species of butterflies have become extinct due to deforestation and increase in population. Global warming and climate change have caused severe damage to these insects. Extensive human activity has resulted in habitat destruction. So several species of butterflies are becoming extinct.

Butterflies are under threat from their early stages. When they are eggs they are attacked by predators, diseases and environmental factors. Larvae of the butterfly are easy prey for ants, birds and wasps. Caterpillars are affected by many bacterial, viral and fungal diseases. Very few caterpillars become adults.

The adult butterflies are preyed by several birds like sparrows, robins, jays, and such other birds. Adult butterflies have to fight against spiders, wasps, dragonflies etc. for their survival. Extreme weather is an enemy to butterflies. They are cold blooded insects. Therefore, they are sensitive to high temperature. Harsh winds and rains will kill the butterflies.

Many of the butterfly species have become endangered because of habitat destruction and global warming. Rain-forests are being destroyed slowly. So great number of butterflies are diminishing.

As one of the member of this bio diversity, we have the responsibility to preserve the clan of butterflies. So we must set up, butterfly parks and gardens to nurture and nourish the species vulnerable to extinction.