The large brown head of the South American owl butterfly caterpillar emerges first from its egg, pushing through the circular opening cut by its massive mouthparts. Very vulnerable to predators while it is still partially trapped in the shell, the caterpillar twists and turns its segments until its front legs are free. At this point it can pull the rest of its body out. The empty eggshell, which contains nutrients essential to a new hatchling’s development, will be its first meal.

Dorling Kindersley

Caterpillar Pulling Free From Egg," Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Larva to Pupa

A full-grown caterpillar, the larval stage of a butterfly, prepares to pupate by securing itself to a branch with both its hind claspers and a silk harness. Soon the caterpillar’s skin splits, revealing the chrysalis, or pupa, forming underneath. Despite the inactive, leaflike appearance of the completed chrysalis, an unbelievable transformation occurs within. In the pupal stage, hormones will direct the breakdown of larval structures and the formation, both from recycled cells and from cells inactive since the embryo, of the new tissues of the butterfly.

Dorling Kindersley

Larva to Pupa," Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Emerging Butterfly

A fully developed butterfly escapes from its chrysalis by pumping blood into its head and thorax, the first structures to emerge. The swollen abdomen and compressed wings descend as the pupal shell splits wide, but the butterfly must rest—as long as overnight—to allow its structures to expand, dry, and harden before it is capable of flight.

Oxford Scientific Films

Emerging Butterfly," Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Exotic Butterflies and Moths

The many butterflies and moths found in the rain forests of tropical regions provide the greatest variety of form, coloration, and mimicry in the insect world. Butterflies and moths belong to the same order, Lepidoptera, which refers to the scale-covered, membranous wings that characterize the order’s adult insects. Members of the order experience metamorphoses as they grow, passing through the four developmental stages of egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

Dorling Kindersley

Exotic Butterflies and Moths," Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Butterfly Pollinating a Flower

Many species of butterflies eat plant nectar. When these butterflies land on a series of flowers in search of food, they brush their bodies against both male and female floral organs, inadvertently transferring pollen from one flower to another.

Butterfly Pollinating a Flower," Microsoft® Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved