How Is a Butterfly Formed?
Follow one of nature's most dramatic transformations from a tiny egg to a winged butterfly.
Read along
A butterfly begins life as a tiny egg, usually attached to a leaf. A caterpillar hatches and starts eating so it can grow quickly. As its body gets bigger, it sheds its tight outer skin several times. When it is ready, the caterpillar hangs in a safe place and forms a chrysalis. Inside, its body reorganizes in an extraordinary process called metamorphosis. Wings, long legs, antennae, and a curled feeding tube develop. The adult butterfly finally pushes out, rests while its wings expand and dry, and then takes its first flight.
Inside the story
Scene by scene
Pause, look closer, and discover the science behind each part of the adventure.
Scene 0101
Egg to caterpillar
“A pin-sized egg opens, and out crawls a very hungry caterpillar ready to grow.”
The caterpillar is the larval stage of a butterfly. Its main job is to eat and store the energy needed for the transformation ahead.
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Inside the chrysalis
“The caterpillar forms a chrysalis, where a hidden rebuild begins.”
Special groups of cells guide the development of adult structures such as wings and antennae while much of the larval body is reorganized.
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First flight
“A butterfly emerges, pumps fluid into its folded wings, and waits until they are strong enough to fly.”
New wings are soft and crumpled. The butterfly expands them with a fluid called hemolymph and lets them harden before taking off.
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