The Butterfly Lifecycle

1. The Butterfly Lifecycle

2. What is a butterfly? A butterfly is an insect. It has wings that come in many beautiful colors.

3. Adult butterflies lay eggs on leaves. The eggs are tiny. Most species of butterfly lay yellow eggs.

4. Click to add subtitle A caterpillar hatches from the egg. This is the larva stage. When the caterpillar hatches, it is an eating machine. It even eats its own egg!

5. Click to add title Click to add subtitle Caterpillars come in many different shapes, sizes and colors just like butterflies. The caterpillars eat leaves and grow a lot. When it grows, the caterpillar sheds its old skin and gets a new bigger skin.

6. After a couple of weeks, the caterpillar will attach itself to a leaf or a stem with a sticky web. It usually hangs in a “J” shape.

7. Click to add title The caterpillar will shed its skin one last time. Under this skin is a hard shell. Now the caterpillar is called a chrysalis. This is also called a pupa.

8. Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar is changing. It will stay inside the chrysalis for about a week. Some caterpillars will stay inside for the whole winter!

9. When its time, the butterfly will push its way out of the chrysalis.

10. Click to add title Click to add subtitle The butterflies wings will be crumpled and wet. It will take a few hours before the butterfly will be able to fly.

11. The adult butterflies lay eggs on leaves.

12. butterfly The butterfly life is a cycle because it keeps going. egg chrysalis caterpillar