Exploring: Let's learn about butterflies

Butterflies are colourful flying insects that you often see floating around your backyard.  They have a set of wings, 6 legs and their body has 3 sections: a head, chest (thorax, middle part) and tummy (abdomen, tail end). They have eyes and antennae which are like two long stalks coming out of their heads. There are over 20,000 species of butterflies throughout the world - the only place without butterflies is Antarctica. In Australia, we have approximately 400 different varieties of butterflies.

WHAT AND HOW DO BUTTERFLIES EAT?

Butterflies have a long tongue, called a proboscis, which they can curl and uncurl to drink through like a straw. They use their proboscis to drink sweet nectar from flowers, which is their main source of food. Some butterflies also enjoy a different sugary treat, fruit. They especially enjoy fully ripened and rotting fruit. Favourite fruits are bananas, oranges, apples, and pears.

A butterfly, however, cannot live on sugar alone; it needs minerals, too. To supplement its diet of nectar, a butterfly will occasionally sip from mud puddles, which are rich in minerals and salts.

BUTTERFLIES HAVE TRANSPARENT WINGS

Perhaps the most loved thing about butterflies is their colourful wings. Their vibrant colours and patterns are used to both attract other butterflies and warn predators that they are poisonous.

But did you know that butterfly wings are actually transparent? Their wings are covered by thousands of tiny scales, and these scales reflect light in different colors. Underneath all of those scales, a butterfly wing is actually formed by layers of chitin—the same protein that makes up an insect's exoskeleton. These layers are so thin you can see right through them. As a butterfly ages, scales fall off the wings, leaving spots of transparency where the chitin layer is exposed.

HOW LONG DO THEY LIVE?

Once it emerges from its chrysalis as an adult, a butterfly has only 2 to 4 short weeks to live, in most cases. During that time, it focuses all its energy on two tasks: eating and mating. Some of the smallest butterflies, the blues, may only survive a few days. Others, like monarchs and blue tigers can live as long as nine months.

LIFE CYCLE OF A BUTTERFLY

Butterflies and moths develop through a process called metamorphosis. This is a Greek word that means transformation or change in shape. The life cycle of a butterfly has 4 stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa and adult butterfly.

Butterflies start life as an egg

Adult female butterflies lays eggs on leaves of plants and these eggs, when hatched, will become caterpillars. These plants will then become the food for the hatching caterpillars.

Butterfly eggs can be very hard to spot as they are very, very small.

The hungry caterpillar

From the egg hatches a larva, also called a caterpillar. The job of the caterpillar is to eat and eat and eat. Caterpillars grow quickly, shedding their skin as they get bigger. They can increase in size more than 3000 times!

A magical transformation

After about 2 weeks, a caterpillar will stop eating and will find a sheltered spot - suspended under a branch, hidden in leaves or buried underground - to become a pupa. The pupa is also called a chrysalis. It protects the caterpillar as it goes through an amazing process to change into a butterfly.

This stage can last from a few weeks, a month or even longer. Some species have a pupal stage that lasts for two years. It may look like nothing is going on but big changes are happening inside. Special cells that were present in the larva are now growing rapidly. They will become the legs, wings, eyes and other parts of the adult butterfly.

Finally the butterfly makes an appearance

When ready, the butterfly will break open the case. Initially its wings are wet, so it will wait a while for them to dry before making any movements. But once ready to fly, the butterfly will start searching for flowers to feed on.

YOUR TIME TO EXPLORE

Now it's your time to head out and explore! Late spring and early summer are the perfect times to try your hand at butterflying - remember, these cold blooded creatures only come out and fly when temperatures are warm so choose a sunny day for your adventure.

Try a butterfly net

If you really want to try out butterflying, it is best to get an official insect net. A good butterfly net has a long cone shaped net that allows you to safely and effectively perfect your butterfly catching technique. Worth investing in a good quality one!

Practice your netting technique 

There are two main techniques for catching butterflies in a net and we recommend practicing before heading out.

The easiest technique is called the plop method. When the butterfly lands on the ground, gently place the net on top of the butterfly. Keeping the net on the ground, gently lift the net up into a tent shape to let the butterfly fly towards the end of the tent. Watch this video demonstrating the plop method.

The second technique is more complicated and is called the swish and flip - it involves catching the butterfly on the fly and swooping the tail of the net around to keep it from flying out. This video shows you how to master the swish and flip technique.

Always be gentle when netting butterflies. Butterflies are extremely delicate creatures.

What to do if you catch a butterfly

If you are successful enough to catch a butterfly, there are several ways to get a closer look. You can simply hold it gently through the net. Or you can gently transfer it into a large jar with holes in the lid. Then, try your hand at identifying it. See our list of favorite butterfly books and local guides.

Don't forget to let your butterfly go and try to not catch the same one again.

Happy exploring!

Lidia xxx