5: How do butterflies reproduce?
If you see two adult butterflies with their abdomens linked tail-to-tail, they are mating. The male grasps the female and deposits a sperm packet, which fertilizes the female's eggs. The butterflies can fly while mating, but they usually avoid moving unless they are disturbed.
6: How long do butterflies live?
Although the caterpillar may take months to develop, adult butterflies of most species live only a few weeks. Exceptions include migratory species, which may live up to 10 months. In warm climates there are continuous generations, producing butterflies year-round.
7: Do butterflies migrate?
Most adult butterflies stick close to home, but a few species, including the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), are migratory. Monarchs travel incredible distances from Canada and the northern United States to overwintering sites in Mexico, where they roost together in vast numbers. Having survived the winter, the adults return northward in the spring. Because butterflies can't fly if its too cold, when the air is very cool, they have to warm up their flight muscles either by sunning their bodies or shivering their wings. Once they have made themselves warm enough, they can fly.
8: What makes butterfly wings colorful?
Butterfly wings are covered with tiny scales, each a single color. Most of the colors are produced by pigments, but the beautiful iridescence of some butterflies results from a reflective microstructure on the scale's surface. Don't touch a butterfly's wing because the "powder" that rubs off is actually the scales.
9: Are butterflies endangered? Are any extinct?
Butterflies are extremely sensitive to environmental changes, and many species have become endangered or extinct because of habitat destruction. Some adult butterflies have also been threatened by commercial collectors, like the spectacular Queen Alexandra's birdwing, Ornithoptera alexandrae, of Papua New Guinea.
10: How small is the smallest butterfly, and how big is the biggest?
Adult butterflies vary greatly in size. One of the smallest butterflies is the eastern pygmy blue, Brephidium isophthalma, from the coastal southeastern United States, with a wingspan of about 5/8 of an inch. Among the largest are the birdwing butterflies from New Guinea, with wingspans of up to 12 inches.