The life cycle of a butterfly
Almost all insects grow from eggs and the butterfly is no different. The
adult female lays her egg on a plant which she knows her babies will enjoy
eating and flies away leaving them to hatch and grow on their own.
The eggs hatch into tiny grubs which we call caterpillars. The caterpillars
feed hungrily on the plant until they can get no bigger. Then they shed
their skins and emerge as a chrysalis or pupa. They may remain in this
form throughout the winter.
The body of the chrysalis will break down during this amazing transformation
and reform itself into a beautiful butterfly.
The butterfly has to break its way out of the hardened shell of the chrysalis.
When it first does so its wings are soft and crumpled. It has to spend
a while pumping blood into its wings to make them strong and wait for them
to harden.
The butterfly will then fly away to feed and find a mate to start the
whole process again!
This process of changing bodies is called metamorphosis.

Peacock butterfly photograph by Leon Truscott
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