Butterflies are a large group of insects, belonging to the order “Lepidoptera”, which means “scaly wing”. They are characterized by their large, often colorful wings and by their proboscis, which they use to suck flower nectar. They lay eggs that hatch into a larvae (called caterpillar), which has a totally different appearance, with its cylindrical body, and feeds mainly on plants leave, before going through the metamorphosis of the chrysalis.
One of the world's most beautiful butterflies
In popular esteem the butterflies among the insects are what the birds are among the higher animals--the most attractive and beautiful members of the great group to which they belong. They are primarily day fliers and are remarkable for the delicacy and beauty of their membranous wings, covered with myriads of tiny scales that overlap one another like the shingles on a house and show an infinite variety of hue through the coloring of the scales and arrangement upon the translucent membrane running between the wing veins. It is this characteristic structure of the wings that gives to the great order of butterflies and moths its name Lepidoptera, meaning scale-winged
Butterflies poking out of its cocoon
In the case of butterfly larvae one of the most interesting features of the growth of the caterpillar is that of the remarkable changes in colors and patterns of marking which the caterpillar undergoes. One who had not followed these changes would often be at a loss to recognize caterpillars of slightly differing sizes as belonging to the same species. These changes commonly show a remarkable adaptation to the conditions of life, and generally tend to the concealment of the caterpillar upon its food plant.
Video Beautiful butterfly, macro picture butterfly
There is probably no phenomenon in the world of living creatures which has attracted more attention than the change of the chrysalis into the butterfly. It is not strange that this is so. We see upon a tree or shrub or wall an inert, apparently lifeless object, having no definite form which we can compare it with other things, having eyes nor ears nor wings nor legs--an object apparently of as little interest as a lifeless piece of rock. A few minutes later we behold it again and note with astonishment that this apparently inanimate being has been suddenly transformed into the most ethereal of the creator earth, with an exquisite beauty that cannot fail to attract admiration, with wings of most delicate structure for flying through the air, with eyes of a thousand facets, with organs of smell that baffle the ingenuity of man to explain, with vibrant antennae, and a slender tongue adapted to feeding upon the nectar of flowers--the most ambrosial of natural food. So it is not strange that this emergence of a butterfly has long been the theme both of poets and theologians and that it attracts the admiring attention of childhood, youth, and age.
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