Butterflies/Skippers (Lepidoptera)

The word "butterfly" is thought to come from the Old English and German word "buterfloege," or literally "butter fly." This comes from the yellow butterflies present in Europe that looked like slices of butter on the wing to people. In English folklore, the origin comes from stories of fairies stealing butter, thus "butter flies." 


Pollination

    While there are many well-known pollinators such as the bumblebees and honeybees, the most colorful and graceful are the butterflies and moths. Butterflies are not as efficient as bees in pollination, but they are diurnal (pollinating a wide variety of flowers) because they travel longer distances. They frequent large and colorful blooms. They have color vision that senses more wavelengths than either humans or bees. Unlike bees, they see the color red. Their feet are so sensitive that the can “taste” the difference between related plant species. Butterflies and skippers, like moths, extract nectar through its proboscis, and pollen on their feet and body. However, since butterflies do not digest pollen, more nectar is taken than pollen.

Reproduction

 Butterflies produce pheromones similar to their attracted plants to attract the opposite sex. Mating occurs in spring in two phases, aerial and ground. During the aerial phase, the male pursues while nudging and eventually takes down the female. Copulation occurs during the ground phase where the male and female remain attached for about 30 to 60 minutes. Along with transferring sperm, the male transfers a spermatophore transferred to the female. The spermatophore provides the female with energy resources that aid in her carrying out reproduction and remigration.

       - For a video on the phases of reproduction: Reproduction phases

Life Stages

1. Egg: tiny in size with a round, oval, or cylindrical shape. The female attaches the egg to leaves or stems of a host plant intended to be the food source for when an egg hatches into a caterpillar. Occurs during spring to summer.

2.  Caterpillar (larva): usually colorful and worm-like for butterflies and moth. Often, the caterpillar will have some type of stripe or patch pattern. This is the feeding and growing stage on the host plant. As it grows, it will shed its skin four to five times to enclose its quickly growing body.

3. Chrysalis/pupa: a casing with the caterpillar inside transforming. This is the stage where the caterpillar tissues are broken down and the adult structures are formed. In most species, the chrysalis is brown or green to blend into the background. Many species overwinter in this stage.

4. Adult (imago): once the chrysalis matures, the adult butterfly or moth comes out of their cocoon with a colorful structure (wings). Butterflies fly in the day compared to moths that fly at night. This adult stage mainly includes reproduction and pollination. The adult undergoes courtship, mating, and egg-laying. This stage is also reserved for migration or colonizing territories. Depending on the breed, butterflies and skippers can live from a few days to a year.

- For a video on life stages: Butterfly life cycle

Anatomy