Insects & Science

Rearing butterflies and watching them transform from a caterpillar into their final product--an adult butterfly--is an enjoyable experience for families and classrooms alike. Ideally, you should...

Butterflies have a way of capturing our attention because they are such colorful and beautiful creatures. Butterflies go through a metamorphosis, changing from an egg to a larva, to a chrysalis to...

A homemade butterfly cage can be an exciting project for children and adults alike for observing the life cycle of butterflies. While you can order pop-up mesh butterfly cages online or from some...

The purple spotted swallowtail is a colorful member of the Papilionidae family. Because of this butterfly's bright coloration and geographic isolation, it long has been prized by collectors and...

The entire life cycle of a butterfly is a series of puzzling and unlikely events. From egg to mature adult, this solitary insect performs a complete four-staged metamorphosis. Scientists are...

Butterflies are among the most beautiful insects. A well-preserved butterfly can be displayed with its wings spread wide to show off the patterns, which are often breathtaking. Even a butterfly...

The Fender's blue is a small butterfly that lives on less than 500 acres in Oregon's Willamette Valley. It was officially designated an endangered species in 2000, after a majority of its habitat...

The painted lady butterfly is a common butterfly found throughout North America. It has a two-week lifespan as an adult butterfly, but its journey includes several transformations.

The mission blue butterfly, Icaricia icarioides missionensis, was first described in 1937. It is a subspecies of Boisduval's blue, and is native to the San Francisco Bay area with most existing...

Preserving butterfly wings can be a fun project for an insect enthusiast of any age. Many people enjoy preserving butterflies as part of a collection or to make unique jewelry or decorations....

The family of Morpho butterflies (Morpho menelaus) are made up of about 80 species of rain forest-dwelling butterflies. Morpho butterflies are easily identified due to their blue and green...

Providing a butterfly house in your garden will give visiting butterflies a place to rest during bad weather and shelter for those butterflies that over-winter. A butterfly house can be easily...

The first characteristics to look for in identifying a butterfly cocoon are where it is found and how it is formed. Most butterfly cocoons are formed just large enough to house and barely cover...

Collecting butterflies, whether for temporary observation or eventual mounting and display in a collection, provides a fascinating view into nature. The thrill of stalking and netting a beautiful...

Painted lady butterflies can be found just about anywhere in the world. One reason is because they are able to tolerate colder temperatures and can be found in North America, Africa and Asia, as...

Bright-winged and beautiful, butterflies fill our meadows and gardens. It seems that when you see one, you see dozens, and it can seem like there are literally millions of different kinds. The...

Butterfly wings create the beauty and color that make a butterfly such a fascinating part of the insect world. A butterfly can be identified by its wing color and shape.

Like many other insects, the lives of butterflies begin with laying eggs. Each stage of the butterfly's life cycle--called metamorphosis--plays an important role in their development. Butterflies...

Swallowtail butterflies have projections on their hind-wings that are reminiscent of swallow tail feathers. The most common species include spicebush, tiger, black and zebra swallowtails. All...

If you would like to observe the life cycle of a butterfly, from caterpillar to adult butterfly, you will need to provide food for the caterpillars in your butterfly habitat. There are a few...

You may think numerous insects are not that attractive, but the butterfly can turn the heads of anyone on a warm, sunny day. The mixture of colors on its wings can either blend in with its...

Monarch butterflies have four visible legs, two legs tucked under the head, bright orange wings and white spots over the whole body. Discover the features of both male and female monarchs with...

To find butterfly chrysalises and moth cocoons, look on branches, under leaves, near water and on plants that caterpillars like to eat. Locate chrysalises and cocoons before predators find them...

Taking care of a butterfly cocoon or chrysalis requires putting it in a large container in the springtime until it hatches or keeping it in a cool environment during the winter. Care for a...

Many different butterflies are yellow, but a two common ones are the Tiger Swallowtail and the Sulfur butterfly. Identify different species of yellow butterflies with information from a butterfly...

Butterflies usually hatch from their chrysalis cocoons in the spring, but they can hatch any time of year in tropical climates. Understand the variables that affect when butterflies hatch with...

Butterflies build chrysalis cocoons by finding a sheltered area, hanging upside-down and shedding its skin to expose the chrysalis. Discover the chrysalis stage of this insect's life with...

A butterfly will stay in a chrysalis from five days to a year, depending on the time of year, the climate and the environmental state. Find out why some butterflies stay in their chrysalises...

The life span of a monarch butterfly ranges from three weeks to nine months, depending on whether it is a migratory monarch or not. Explore the life cycle of monarchs with information from a...

Butterfly food is made out of any sugars, such as sugar water, over-ripe fruit and nectar from flowers. Find out how butterflies get nutrients from nature with information from a butterfly...

A caterpillar turns into a butterfly through a process of molting after it chews itself out of the egg, as the chrysalis and chrysalides exist inside the caterpillar as it grows and sheds skin....

Taking care of a butterfly house depends on its scale, but planting flowers that butterflies like, hanging supplemental nectar feeders, providing fruit trees and maintaining proper light will...

Butterfly farming is a huge industry around the world from large-scale conservatories to private backyard butterfly gardens. Discover how these beautiful insects are grown with information from a...

Butterflies are among the most colorful and beautiful insects. They flitter from flower to flower, sometimes pausing to eat nectar or rest their wings. As they span out, their colors are on...

Summer is arriving, meaning those beautiful visitors to your garden, butterflies, will also make an appearance. Butterflies each have numerous characteristics that can help you identify what type...

Butterflies come in different sizes and colors, and are considered beautiful by many people. Because of this, butterfly-themed rooms, areas and pictures have been adorning homes for generations....

When the weather begins to break and the landscape brightens, the brilliant colors of the first spring butterflies will begin to emerge. Butterflies that were once dormant, will awaken and lay...

Whether you want to show beginning butterfly enthusiasts the basics, give some education to school children or help your community grow lush butterfly attracting gardens, a flyer about butterflies...

Collecting butterflies is a specialized art. Butterflies can be collected using butterfly nets and tents, or they can be purchased online and mounted at home. If you chose to capture the...

Besides wing patterns, there are four to five main points to look for when identifying a butterfly or any member of the order Lepidoptera--which also includes moths. Its shape, size, posture and...

The Butterfly House in St. Louis is an indoor butterfly garden featuring hundreds of butterflies in the 8,000 square foot Conservatory Garden. You can observe and photograph hundreds of tropical...

Butterflies are insects that belong to an order known as Lepidoptera, which also includes the moths. They number some 180,000 species in all. Butterflies have a life cycle which consists of four...

The Monarch butterfly's scientific name is Danaus plexippus, which means in Greek "sleepy transformation." The name, refers to the Monarch's ability to hibernate and metamorphize, and is...

Caterpillars are generally only able to feed on one type of plant, depending on the species of the butterfly. Find out how the monarch butterfly caterpillar only eats milkweed plants and how the...

As a butterfly, tiger swallowtails eat a wide variety of nectar from different plants; as caterpillars, they feed on willows, alders and cottonwood trees. Discover how the tiger swallowtail...

A cocoon can last between seven days and four months, depending on the conditions, temperatures and species of butterfly or moth. Find out how cocoons that have multiple generations through the...

Butterflies are insects belonging to the Lepidoptera family. They are cold blooded and have four life stages which include egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult (butterfly)....

Butterflies are elusive, free and beautiful. Perhaps more than any other insect, they inspire a longing to touch their soft, colorful wings and delicate spindly legs. If you’ve ever...

The life cycle of the Monarch butterfly is a miraculous mix of carefree flight and metamorphosis. Additionally, each Monarch butterfly that survives disease and predatory interruptions throughout...

Butterfly houses range from large, greenhouse-type structures to smaller hibernation houses that can be placed in nearly any garden. Butterflies are pretty, but they also help pollinate flowers...