Interesting facts about butterflies. Important facts about butterflies Interesting facts about butterflies

Stockholm hospitals are famous for having butterflies that treat stress in patients.

The largest contribution to the pollination of flowers is made by bees, in second place are butterflies.

Butterflies have a voracious appetite. Some species of these insects can sugar syrup, twice the body weight of the insect.

We love butterflies for their beauty and variety of patterns on their wings. But nature created them to protect against birds that love to feast on insects, but can not always notice a bright insect that looks like a flower.

Without the warmth of the sun, most butterflies cannot fly.

In the Stone Age, butterflies were among some tribes the pagan deity Great Mother.

Butterflies protect their lives from predators through vibration, which they capture very well.

Cabbage is a very voracious and prolific butterfly. Most of the larvae do not survive or are eaten by birds, otherwise the total mass of these butterflies would be three times the mass of all people living on our planet.

Butterflies have four life cycles. Initially, these insects are eggs from which caterpillars emerge. They turn into pupae, from which the butterfly itself flies out. The fourth phase of life, when we see butterflies in flight, is called adults.

Female butterflies live longer than the males of these insects.

The longest diapause is in the yucca moth. Butterflies from Nevada go from larva to butterfly in nineteen years. American scientists were able to observe this whole long way of turning into a butterfly in a biological laboratory.

Butterflies are tiny and huge, motley and with dull colors, leading a nocturnal or daytime lifestyle. Despite all these differences, they all have one thing in common - they are all very beautiful!

A number of butterflies possess sound communication, and almost all female butterflies release pheromones into the atmosphere for this purpose.

There is such a butterfly as the imperial moth. She has the best among these insects. Males smell the female at a distance of more than eleven kilometers, being in opposition to the wind. Females emit with the help of an attractate substance weighing only one ten-thousandth of a milligram.

The night butterfly Attacus Altas has wingspan of one third of a meter, so this largest night butterfly is often mistaken for birds.

In the tropics of America and Europe live butterflies that feed on animals such as turtles. Males of this species consider it a special delicacy. But still, the vast majority of butterflies feed on nectar and grass juice containing.

Butterflies have a very short life span, they only fly for a few days and die. But among these insects there is a long-liver. In the Brixton butterfly, the adult life cycle lasts about ten months.

In Russia, peacock butterflies are the most common, especially in the Siberian region of the country. It cannot be confused with other butterflies due to its unusual pattern. The top of the wing of this insect is cherry-brown in color, there is a spot in the form of a black-brown color, the lower part of the wing is completely black.

A number of butterflies love to eat manure and fruit rot. Such an original gourmet, for example, is the red admiral.

Butterflies have tracheae and tracheoles for breathing, as well as air sacs. They draw oxygen in through spiracles - openings in the abdomen.

There are butterflies that have accumulated a lot of energy during the life phase as caterpillars, so when they turn into butterflies, they do not feed at all.

The exoskeleton of a butterfly protects the insect from drying out. This skeleton is located on the outside of the body, it does not allow moisture to escape from the body.

The blue dwarf is the smallest butterfly in the world. The wingspan of this crumb is only 14 millimeters.

The writer V. Nabokov discovered twenty new species of these insects for science. The writer's collection included more than 4,300 dried butterflies of various species. On the slope of his life, Nabokov donated this collection to the University of Lausanne, which has a large museum dedicated to the animal world.

A unique gift was made to Kim Il Sung on his 80th birthday. The loyal soldiers of his army presented the nation's leader with a war-themed painting made from the wings of four and a half million butterflies.

Alexandra's sailboat butterfly is one of the rarest in the world. This large butterfly lives only in Papua New Guinea. Collectors organized a hunt for a beautiful insect, so there are very few of these butterflies left in the wildlife of the island.

Butterflies in the same place lay offspring for a long time.

Butterflies see only three colors: yellow, red and green.

The calligo butterfly lives in Brazil. She has many enemies, and she came up with an original way to protect herself from predatory insects and birds. Seeing the enemy, she shows the underside of the wings, which depicts an owl with bulging eyes. The image of this bird is so realistic that the calligo's enemies quickly fly away, because the owl is an enemy for many of them.

The founder of the world religion, Buddha, addressed religious speeches to butterflies, so the adherents of this creed respect these lepidoptera very much.

Butterfly myopia is one of the main qualities of these insects, although they have tiny "lenses" for better vision.

A small selection of interesting facts about butterflies. These are some of the most beautiful insects - just not a probable amount of different wing colors.

Lepidopterology is the name of the science of butterflies.

- Attakus Atlas is the largest night moth that can be mistaken for a bird, because. its wingspan is 30 cm.
- The smallest butterfly is the moth from England (Acetozei) and the moth, whose homeland is the Canary Islands (Rediculosis). The body length of these butterflies is only 2 mm. The wingspan is also 2 mm.
- A female butterfly lays 1,000 eggs during her lifetime.
- Females live longer than males.
butterflies able to distinguish between yellow, green and red.
Butterflies don't hear. But they feel a vibration that helps them recognize predators.
In Europe, butterflies are admired, and in China, India, South America they are a delicacy.

The weight of a butterfly is equal to the weight of two rose petals.
Butterflies are excellent pollinators. But they are considered the second group of pollinators. First up are the bees.
165 thousand species of butterflies are known. Every year there are new discoveries - entomologists learn about new species.
V.Nabokov's hobby is collecting butterflies. It has over 4,000 items in its collection. The writer donated this collection to the Zoological Museum at the University of Lausanne. And also V. Nabokov owns the discovery of 20 species of butterflies.
Butterflies fly at a speed of 60 km/h. Butterflies of the hawk family are considered the fastest.

butterflies are excellent stress relievers. The doctors of Stockholm are convinced of this. The clinics of this city have greenhouses with butterflies and flowers, where patients successfully undergo treatment for stress.
In addition to the tropics, the Arctic can be a habitat for butterflies. Arctic butterflies are inconspicuous. Their wings are transparent.
Antarctica is the only continent where butterflies have not been found.
Among butterflies there are predators. For example, Calyptra eustrigata. The food of these butterflies is the blood of animals, which they extract by piercing the covers of animals with a sharp proboscis. Only males are predators. Females prefer the juice of plants and fruits.
There are butterflies that eat toxic substances. So, the caterpillars of the "small monarch" (Danaus cbrysippus) feed on the juice of herbs that release toxic substances. Later, the poison molecules end up in the butterfly's body. You will not envy a bird that decided to peck such a butterfly! At best, severe vomiting awaits the bird, at worst, cardiac arrest. If the bird still manages to survive, it will no longer risk attacking butterflies - the avoidance reflex will work. So toxic substances are a kind of protection of "small monarchs" from their enemies.
The Brazilian calligo butterfly has a different method of defense. Seeing a bird, it turns over, showing the enemy the wrong side of its wings. The enemy has no choice but to retreat hastily. It's all about the pattern on the wings. This is an image of an owl with a sharp beak and large eyes. Well, the owl is the worst enemy of birds.

Butterflies do not complain about their appetite: they can eat food weighing 2 times more than their own weight.
There are also butterflies who do not tend to eat food due to the lack of a mouth. Such butterflies live on the energy they accumulated in the caterpillar stage.
The food of some species of butterflies in the tropics of the Old and New Worlds is the tears of animals.
Caterpillars of some species of butterflies feed on wool and wax. These are moths (clothes, fur coats), wax moths.
And also eat butterflies feasting on manure and rotting fruit. For example, the Red Admiral.
Butterfly taste sensors are located in the legs. Therefore, butterflies recognize food by standing on it.
Butterflies have complex eye structures. Each eye is 6 thousand smallest parts, lenses.

But with blood circulation, everything is simple. No heart, no veins and no arteries. All this is replaced by a vessel located in the abdomen, passing into the head in the form of a tube.
The butterfly's skeleton is located on the outside of its body. Its name is exoskeleton. It helps to retain water inside the butterfly's body, thereby preventing it from drying out.
Of the 4.5 million butterfly wings you can paint a picture. And there is such a picture. Its name is "The Selfless Faith of a Soldier". Its owner was Kim Il Sung, who received such a picture in honor of his 80th birthday.

And this is true, in the amazingly diverse world of insects, it is butterflies that are the most beautiful creatures. In addition, butterflies are not only beautiful, some rare tropical butterflies can cost thousands of dollars, and there are even special people who are professionally searching for and capturing such butterflies, which are then sold to wealthy collectors. In our article we will tell you all the most interesting about these amazing creatures - a butterfly.

Butterfly: description, structure, characteristics. What does a butterfly look like?

According to the zoological classification, butterflies belong to arthropod insects, the Lepidoptera order. The very name "butterfly" comes from the Old Slavonic word "grandmother", in the sense of grandmother, old woman. Why is the butterfly associated with the elderly? The fact is that according to the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, the souls of deceased ancestors turn into butterflies and therefore they must be treated with the utmost respect.

The external structure of a butterfly consists of two parts: the body, which is protected by a strong chitinous shell and wings. The body of a butterfly, in turn, consists of a head, thorax and abdomen. Next, we will dwell on them in detail.

The head of a butterfly is rounded with a flattened occiput connected to the chest. The bulging eyes of a butterfly of a round or oval shape occupy most of the surface of the head. The eyes themselves have a complex faceted structure, due to which butterflies have color vision. But there is a nuance regarding the vision of butterflies, they perfectly distinguish moving objects, but they perceive motionless objects worse. Also, some species of butterflies have additional parietal eyes behind the antennae. The mouth apparatus of a butterfly, depending on its type, can be of a sucking or gnawing type.

Butterfly breasts have a three-segment structure. Their anterior part is smaller than the middle and posterior ones. On the back of the butterfly breasts are three pairs of legs (or legs), which have a structure characteristic of insects. The front paws of the butterfly on the shins have spurs, which are designed to maintain the hygiene of the antennae.

The abdomen of a butterfly in the form of an elongated cylinder consists of ten ring-shaped segments.

This is how the internal structure of a butterfly looks like.

On the border of the frontal and parietal parts of the head, the butterfly has antennae. Thanks to them, butterflies can navigate in the surrounding space, perceiving both various smells and the slightest fluctuations in the air. The length and structure of the antennae of a butterfly depend on its species.

Butterfly wings consist of two pairs, they are covered with flat scales of various shapes, pierced by longitudinal and transverse veins and have a membranous structure. Moreover, the size of the hind wings can be either the same as the front wings, or much smaller than them. It is the pattern of butterfly wings, which can have a wide variety of color combinations, that makes butterflies so beautiful. But it is worth noting that the coloring of butterflies serves not only for beauty, but also as a protective camouflage, which sometimes allows the butterfly to merge with the environment.

The size of a butterfly, more precisely, its wingspan, depending on the species, can range from 2 mm to 31 cm.

How long do butterflies live in nature and at home?

The life expectancy of a butterfly is highly dependent on its species and the climate in which it lives. Usually the life of a butterfly is short, ranging from a few days to a few weeks. However, there are also so-called long-lived butterflies that can live up to two years. But they can live up to such a respectable life span by the standards of a butterfly only at home, since in nature butterflies have many enemies, few of them live to old age.

Where do butterflies live?

Butterflies live almost everywhere, with the exception of the northern Arctic latitudes. They are not, of course, in cold Antarctica. In general, butterflies love warmth, so a lot of them live in warm tropical latitudes.

What do butterflies eat?

Pollen and nectar of flowering plants are the main diet of butterflies. Some species of butterflies are not averse to feasting on tree sap and rotten fruit. There is also such an interesting butterfly as the dead head hawk moth, it is notable for the fact that it loves to fly into the hive and regales itself on their honey.

Sometimes there are real gourmets among butterflies, for example, some tropical butterflies drink tears and crocodiles.

An interesting fact: among butterflies, there are those that have no mouth apparatus at all. How do they eat? But in any way, the fact is that in order to maintain their vital activity, they spend those reserves of nutrients that they accumulated when they were still caterpillars. The Madagascar comet belongs to such an unusual butterfly. Of course, life expectancy with such nutrition (more precisely, the complete absence of it) is only 2-3 days.

Among the numerous kingdoms of butterflies, there is also a real vampire butterfly, which similarly feeds on the blood of other animals.

What do butterflies do in winter?

Butterflies living in tropical latitudes are easier in this regard, but our butterflies living in the temperate climate zone have to survive the winter cold, how do they do it? Some butterflies do not survive the winter, they live only in the summer, during which time they leave offspring that survive the winter in the form of pupae. But there are also species of butterflies that survive the winter cold by hiding in hollow trees or in deep cracks in the bark. Also, some types of butterflies, like birds, rush to fly to warmer climes with the onset of cold weather. For example, such travel butterflies are the monarch and the oleander hawk moth.

Butterfly Enemies

In nature, butterflies have many enemies who are not averse to eating them. These are numerous birds of prey and some large insects, snakes.

Classification and types of butterflies

There are an incredible number of different types of butterflies, zoologists have counted as many as 158 thousand different butterflies. For all this diversity, there are several complex and intricate classification systems. In our opinion, the most successful is the system that divides butterflies into 4 suborders.

Primary tooth moths

This includes small butterflies whose wingspan is between 4 and 15 mm. Butterflies of this suborder have a gnawing mouth and long antennae reaching 75% of the size of their front wings. The suborder consists of 160 species of butterflies. Representatives include:

golden small wing,
marigold small-winged.

Proboscis butterflies

The wingspan of these butterflies is no more than 25 mm. Previously, they were attributed to the primary toothed moths, with which these butterflies have a lot in common. The most famous butterflies of this suborder:

fir cone moth.

proboscis butterflies

They represent the most numerous suborder, which includes several tens of thousands of different families of butterflies. The appearance and size of proboscis butterflies can vary significantly. Butterfly families include:

Sailboat family

It is represented by medium and large butterflies with a wingspan of 50 to 280 mm. The pattern on their wings may consist of black, red or blue spots. Among the most famous butterflies of this family are:

sailboat "Glory of Bhutan".

Nymphalidae family

A distinctive feature of butterflies of this family is the absence of thickened veins on wide wings with colorful patterns. The wingspan of these butterflies is 55-130 mm. Among the most prominent representatives can be identified:

Peacock Eye Butterfly,
butterfly Urticaria,
mourning butterfly.

hawk family

This includes night butterflies with narrow wings, the span of which is not more than 13 cm. Also, all butterflies of the hawk family have a characteristic pattern, their abdomen is thickened and spindle-shaped. The most famous among them are:

hawk "dead head",
poplar hawk.

Butterfly breeding stages. The transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

Among butterflies, there are very complex forms of courtship during the mating season, which are expressed in special flights and mating dances. And the mating process itself can last several hours. Moreover, females from the male receive not only spermatozoa, but also the supply of micronutrients and proteins they need.

The life cycle of a butterfly consists of 4 stages:

Eggs

Like many other insects, the life of a butterfly begins with an egg. Depending on the type of butterfly, they lay their eggs on either the branches of plants. Usually there can be up to 1000 round or cylindrical fertilized eggs at a time. In the egg stage of a butterfly are 8-15 days.

Caterpillar

From the eggs of butterflies, caterpillars appear, which have a gnawing type of mouth apparatus, with the help of which they can eat plant leaves, flowers and fruits. Caterpillars have special glands that produce a special substance that hardens when it comes into contact with air. This substance forms a strong silk thread, which will eventually become a cocoon.

chrysalis

Over time, the caterpillars begin to pupate, and the third stage of the butterfly's life cycle begins.

This is how the pupation of a caterpillar, its transformation into a chrysalis, looks like. The pupa can be elongated cylindrical or round.

Imago (adult, butterfly)

At the last stage, an adult butterfly emerges from the pupa.

This is how the transformation of a chrysalis into a butterfly looks like.

The benefits and harms of butterflies

Butterflies can be both beneficial and harmful to agriculture. So being in the stage of caterpillars, they are pests of plants, due to eating the leaves of fruit trees, the crop worsens, or even completely lost. On the other hand, adult butterflies, on the contrary, are of great benefit, since they contribute to the cross-pollination and self-pollination of many plants.

You can also separately highlight the silkworm, which is a producer of natural silk, which has been of great value since ancient times.

Are butterflies dangerous to humans? No, but there is an exception, this is the Saturnian butterfly. The truth is not the butterfly itself, but its caterpillar, which releases poisonous toxins that can kill even a person, is dangerous. (fortunately, such butterflies and caterpillars do not live in our latitudes).
The migratory monarch butterfly is a real endurance champion, it is able to fly a distance of up to 1000 km at a time, without even stopping to rest.
If the monarch butterfly is a champion in endurance, then hawk moth butterflies are real record holders of the world of insects in speed, they can reach speeds of up to 60 km per hour over short distances.
Butterflies do not sleep either at night or during the day, as they absolutely do not need sleep.

Butterflies are beautiful creatures. I think everyone knows what a butterfly looks like and probably met this terrible beast =)

These unique creatures are the second largest pollinators after bees.

The science that studies butterflies is called lepidopterology. An entomologist who studies butterflies is called a lepidopterologist (from the Latin name for the order of butterflies - Lepidoptera, which translates as "lepidoptera"). A lepidopterist is a person who is simply fond of butterflies.

The largest night butterfly in the world - This is the peacock-eye Atlas (Attacus Atlas). Its wingspan is over 30 cm and it is often mistaken for a bird.

Basically, most butterflies have a short life - only a few days. However, there are specimens with a rather long life cycle: the Brixton butterfly is a long-liver, its cycle lasts up to 10 months.

A female butterfly can lay over 1,000 eggs in her short life.

Butterflies literally work wonders. The species Parnassius arcticus lives in Siberia near the Arctic Circle. It flies to places where snow and ice never melt. Its close relative Parnassius bannyngtoni from the Himalayas is the highest mountain butterfly in the world. It can be found, rising even 6000 meters above sea level.

In the pigeon butterfly (Zizula hylax), which lives in Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Arabia and the tropical zone of Asia and Australia, the length of the front wing is 6 mm. This is the smallest butterfly in the world.

In addition to the tropical butterflies familiar to us, there are also arctic butterflies. They are inconspicuous in appearance, their wings are not bright, but whitish or almost transparent, as if glass. Several species of butterflies that live on the Canadian island of Queen Elizabeth, 750 kilometers from the North Pole, can be called real polar explorers.

The maximum speed this little creature can reach is 12 miles per hour, but there are species that reach the mark of 50 km/h (31 mph). The fastest flight of butterflies of the hawk family.

The most amazing fact about these creatures is that butterflies need the warmth of the sun in order to fly.

The most common butterfly in Russia and Siberia is the Peacock eye. Due to its original pattern, it is difficult to confuse it with any other: the upper part of the wing has a cherry-brown color and a spot in the form of an eye, which is characteristic of this species, while the bottom is completely black-brown.

The life cycle of these creatures consists of four phases: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult (butterfly).

A butterfly lays its offspring in one place for many years in a row.

Butterflies never sleep.

The most complex organ of these amazing creatures is the eyes. They are made up of 6,000 tiny pieces called lenses.

Butterflies are ancient creatures. Their images are present on Egyptian frescoes, which are more than 2.5 thousand years old.

Butterflies are one of the most common collectibles.

In the world there is more than one species of these insects, which can rightfully be considered the rarest. One of them is Queen Alexandra's sailboat, the largest butterfly on the planet.

It is possible to find only on the territory of Papua New Guinea and thanks to collectors, this species is on the verge of extinction.

There are several species of these beautiful creatures that do not eat at all during the entire imago cycle (the last stage of life). Such individuals live due to the energy accumulated during the period when the butterfly was still a caterpillar.

The Blue Dwarf is considered to be the smallest butterfly in the world, with a wingspan of only 1.4 cm.

In the tropical forests of the New and Old Worlds, there is a species of butterfly whose males feed on the tears of animals.

At the brazilian butterfly calligo another way to protect. Seeing a bird, it turns over, showing the enemy the wrong side of its wings.

The enemy has no choice but to retreat hastily.

It's all about the pattern on the wings. This is an image of an owl with a sharp beak and large eyes.

Well, the owl is the worst enemy of birds.

Female butterflies generally live longer and longer than male butterflies. Something like people ;-)

Butterflies are great stress relievers. The doctors of Stockholm are convinced of this. The clinics of this city have greenhouses with butterflies and flowers, where patients successfully undergo treatment for stress.

Butterflies are nearsighted!

It turns out that the secret of the butterfly is hidden precisely in its scales on the wings. They maintain the temperature balance, and also increase the airworthiness.

But with blood circulation, everything is simple. No heart, no veins and no arteries. All this is replaced by a vessel located in the abdomen, passing into the head in the form of a tube.

The pattern on the wings of a butterfly is unique, just like human fingerprints.

Only the Dead Head hawk moth (Acherontia atropos) has a special “speech” organ located in the pharynx. This butterfly, with anxiety or a sense of danger, can squeak.

Butterflies weigh about as much as two rose petals.

Butterfly migration

Among African butterflies, Catopsilia florella makes the longest migrations. Every year from December to February, its representatives, inhabiting the arid regions of the Sahel, fly south in tens of millions. Destination - Zaire - a few thousand kilometers from the start.

Unlike migratory species of temperate latitudes, migration is caused not by the onset of spring, but by the beginning of the rainy season in the south: at this time, many flowers will bloom there, which will provide butterflies with food. They fly in whole clouds up to 20 long and up to 5 kilometers wide.

If such a flock descends to the ground, it is quite capable of turning off car engines! With the return of the dry season, the butterflies head back to the Sahel. Other populations of this species migrate in a similar way, but they fly out from southern Africa (Cape Province of South Africa) and head to the northwest.

Migratory behavior is uncommon in butterflies; it is known only in 200 out of 18,000 diurnal species, and only two dozen of them are comparable in extent and regularity of their flights to Catopsilia florella.

P.S. Interesting fact: During the winter in Southern California, tourists are shown butterfly trees covered in monarch butterflies resting after a long flight from North America. The branches of these trees sag under the weight of a huge number of butterflies! It is impossible to disturb the monarchs - an impressive fine is due for this.

Butterflies are creatures of incredible beauty, rather fragile and light. They impress not only with their appearance, but also with the way they are born, proving the amazingness of the world around us. Being at first caterpillars, rather unpleasant in appearance, they then wrap themselves in a cocoon and are reborn into a winged beauty, but, unfortunately, short-lived. We have collected interesting facts about butterflies, because they are able to surprise not only with their color.

1. The smallest butterfly, called acetosia, has a wingspan of no more than 2 millimeters, and the largest, agrippina, is known for a span of 30 centimeters.

2. An interesting fact about butterflies for children is that, like elephants, these insects take food through the trunk. They have it, of course, of minimal size and are barely noticeable.

3. Thanks to selection and the wonders of nature, there are at least 165 thousand different species of these insects on the planet.

4. An interesting fact about the swallowtail butterfly. Among all others, she is the strongest and fastest, although now very rare. Machaon was once met even in Tibet at an altitude of 4.5 kilometers.

5. Hawk hawks have an unusual ability - exclusively nocturnal moths. They can create a howl, vaguely reminiscent of an animal. In fact, this buzzing allows them to pretend for a while to be a queen bee and, having penetrated the hive, enjoy honey, which is their favorite food.

6. Butterflies sit on top of their food, because their main taste receptors are on their paws.

7. Among the most interesting facts about butterflies is their habitat. Of course, they do not live in Antarctica, because the conditions there are too harsh, but at the same time they somehow endure the harsh climate of the Canadian Queen Elizabeth Island, which is less than one thousand kilometers from the North Pole.

8. Despite their short life, from a couple of days to several weeks, moths sometimes manage to lay up to one thousand eggs, from which caterpillars will subsequently be born, and then moths again.

9. An interesting fact about the Apollo butterfly is that it is the only one that can live in places where the snow sometimes does not melt all year round and still feel comfortable.

10. Most of the moths are afraid of water, because once they get into it, they will not be able to get out. Volumetric wings get wet and do not allow to take off again, but this does not apply to the lilac moth. Even having plunged entirely, she is able to emerge and continue her flight.

11. Special species of these insects can successfully accelerate in flight to a speed of 60 km / h.

12. Monarch butterflies stand out among the rest for their ability to determine the medicinal properties of plants. After they use it in life if their family needs help.

13. An interesting fact from the life of butterflies - some of them, like mosquitoes, can drink blood. Only the calyptra eustrigata, a rather rare species, has such a feature, and besides, only males are vampires in it, females still prefer a plant-based diet.

14. Moths have a kind of skeleton. It is called an exoskeleton and is not located inside the body, as in the predominant part of living beings, but outside. All organs of the insect are inside it.

15. Butterflies do not have a heart, but the structure of their eyes allows them to see and distinguish three key colors - red, green and yellow.