Butterflies trivia: 30 facts about the wonderful insects

Butterflies are beautiful and wonderful insects.

Let’s find out more about butterflies!

1. Butterflies date back to the Paleocene.
2. That means that there butterfly fossils dating 56 million years ago.
3. Butterflies have a 4 stage insect life cycle.
4. Winged adults lay eggs on a plant.
5. Butterflies attach their eggs to leaves with special glue.
6. These are known as caterpillars.
7. Most of the caterpillars are herbivores.
8. They eat… leaves!
9. The caterpillars grow and develop into a chrysalis.
10. When metamorphosis is done they the adult climbs out and here it is- the butterfly!
11. A butterfly will wait a few hours before its first “flight’.
12. This happens because they are waiting for their wings to fill with blood and dry.
13. Butterflies have 4 wings.
14. On the adult stage, they can live between a week and a year.
15. It mostly depends on the species.
16. Some butterflies have several generations in a year.
17. This happens more often in tropical places.
18. Others have a single generation.
19. Butterflies are often polymorphic.
20. Many species make use of camouflage, mimicry, and aposematism.
21. Some butterflies, sometimes migrate far away.
22. The ones who migrate are called monarch butterflies.
23. Most butterflies feed on nectar from flowers.
24. Butterflies have taste detectors on… their feet!
25. It is estimated that there are 15.000 – 20.000 different species of butterflies.
26. They can travel more than 4000km.
27. Females will lay eggs and a new generation of monarchs will travel back completing the cycle.
28. In order to fly they need a specific body temperature, otherwise, they can’t.
29. This temperature is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
30. Butterflies are nearsighted, but they aren’t colorblind.