Butterfly
Life Cycle Observation
Stage
1
Egg Stage
The
female butterfly lays an egg on a plant.
Our
class received the butterflies as larva (caterpillars).
Stage
2
Larva Stage
The
egg hatches and the larva (caterpillar) comes out.
Click
to enlarge picture
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For
five days the caterpillars feed on the food at the bottom
of the cup. They shed their skin a few times. |
|
After
spinning silk pads they attached themselves to the lid and
became pupas. |
Stage
3
Pupa Stage
The caterpillar
feeds on the plant food at the bottom of the cup and grows. When its
skin becomes too small, the old skin splits open and the caterpillar
pops out with a new skin on. This happens four or five times. When
the caterpillar is fully grown it makes a little silk pad on a leaf
or twig and attaches itself to it. In the plastic cups the caterpillars
attaches it's self to a paper lining on the underside of the lid.
The caterpillar's skin splits for the last time. It is now in the
pupa stage. Under the skin is the chrysalis. Many changes happen to
the chrysalis. The wings, legs and rest of the butterfly are formed
inside the chrysalis.
Click
to enlarge picture
|
We
than moved the paper lining into the observation box. In 5
to 7 days they will become butterflies. |
Stage
4
Adult Stage
The last
stage is the adult stage when the chrysalis (pupa) splits and the
butterfly comes out.
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to enlarge picture
