BUTTERFLY LIFE CYCLE
Why use butterflies in your classroom?
Butterflies demonstrate many important principles and concepts of biology, including life cycles, food chains, animal behavior, and structure and function.
Eggs
Laid singly on a plant
Temperature affects speed of development
Larva
Undergoes five molts
Changes color as it grows
Forms bristles
Produces a silk button to suspend from
Chrysalis
Brownish with gold flecks
Soft for first few days
Wiggles as a defense mechanism
Adults emerge in 7-10 days
Adult
Reach productive maturity in 5-7 days
Wing span is approximately 2 and half inches
Female can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime
WORKSHEETS
Butterfly Life Cycle Worksheets
Integrate the study of butterflies into your curriculum with these resources. You can download each one or get the e-book Butterfly Activities. (It includes all the activities in a reproducible format.)
ACTIVITIES
Do More with Your Butterflies
Explore activities for every life cycle stage, suitable for every grade level.
- March 4, 2024 Butterwalkers
- February 22, 2023 Butterfly Necklace
LEARN
Painted Lady Butterfly Care
Learn about painted ladies in the larval, pupal, and adult stages, with emphasis on the larval stage. This video covers habitat setup, maintenance, care, and feeding, along with some answers to frequently asked questions about painted ladies.
TESTIMONIALS
What our customers are saying
Everything I received was healthy and developed well. I got butterfly, ladybug, and mealworm larva, as well as a mallow plant. The mallow plant is the host plant for the painted lady butterfly. My class is really enjoying watching them change, and is developing an understanding of the insect lifecycle. I would recommend this for families and teachers.
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Valuable learning experience for my 2nd graders. We enjoyed following each step of the butterfly’s development. The majority of the caterpillars made it to the butterfly stage.
My daughter’s 2nd grade students are absolutely loving this! They want to watch their caterpillars all day! Everything arrived healthy and the kit had everything necessary to set up. Thanks for a quality product.
