Different life stages of a butterfly.

The Egg stage

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The eggs of butterfly are tiny and have a variety of shapes. The female butterfly lays the eggs on the leaves of the plants. After 6-7 days a worm like creature hatches out of the egg which is light green or yellow in colour.

The Larva stage

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It is tiny worm like known as baby caterpillar but does not undergo moulting (it's the process of shedding of skin several times before growing into an adult).


The Caterpillar stage

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This is the active stage. The larva eats leaves and grows to a tremendous amount. This fully grown larva is called a caterpillar which has six real legs and a number of extra prolegs.It is the young one of a butterfly and does not resemble its parents.

The Pupa stage

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This is called the resting stage. The caterpillar first spins a cocoon around its body and also fastens itself to a plant with a silk thread.. The caterpillar which is inside the pupa changes into a butterfly. Generally pupas camouflage themselves to hide from predators.

The Butterfly stage

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In this stage the baby butterfly emerges from the pupa and soon is transformed into an adult butterfly.


Metamorphosis

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Insects and butterflies change in form in their development from egg to adult. The different instars are not alike, this process is called metamorphosis

In a nutshell we can say that a Butterfly passes through four stages in its life cycle. Usually it lays eggs on a leaf. When the eggs hatch a small larva emerges and crawls out. This larva of a butterfly is called a caterpillar which starts eating the leaf and grows This is the active stage. During its life it moults a few times. Each time it becomes bigger. Soon it changes into a pupa. This pupa may be hanging on the plant in a small loop of silk. And after a few weeks the pupa turns into a beautiful adult butterfly.

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