How many butterflies

Please Binoculars for Butterflying for more information on this topic. What is the origin of the word "butterfly. It is possible that it arose from the butter-yellow color of common European butterflies called sulphurs. Where do butterflies spend the night? At night, or during inclement weather, most butterflies perch on the underside of a leaf, crawl deep between blades of grass or into a crevice in rocks, or find some other shelter, and sleep.

How do butterflies spend the winter? In areas where temperatures drop below freezing during part of the winter, at least one stage in a butterfly species' life cycle must be resistant to freezing if the species is resident. Most butterflies that live in cold climates spend the winter as caterpillars, while almost as many spend the winter as pupas. A few species, mainly tortoiseshells Nymphalis and anglewings Polygonia , spend the winter as adults, hibernating in holes in trees, in crevices in man-made structures, or in other shelters.

A very few species spend the winter as eggs. Do butterfly boxes work? Unfortunately, no. While so-called butterfly boxes can be attractive, and do little harm, studies have shown that butterflies do not use them in any way. What do butterflies eat? Most adult butterflies drink nectar from flowers through their tongues, which function much like straws. A minority of butterflies almost never visits flowers, instead gaining sustenance from tree sap, rotting animal matter, and other organic material.

Butterfly caterpillars almost all eat plant matter. Mainly the caterpillars eat leaves, but some species eat seeds and seed pods while others specialize on flowers. Most species will eat only a small group of related plant species -- for example Pearl Crescent caterpillars will eat species of asters.

Some species, such as Gray Hairstreaks, will eat a wide variety of plants and some will eat only a single plant species. Although they eat plants, very few butterfly caterpillars are agricultural pests and if caterpillars are destroying some of your garden plants, it is unlikely that they are butterflies unless you planted those plants specifically to attract butterflies. The caterpillar of one North American butterfly,the Harvester, eats aphids.

Do butterflies migrate? Many butterflies that spend the summer in temperate North America cannot survive northern winters. Each year, as the weather becomes warmer, butterflies from Mexico and the southern United States fly north to repopulate these regions. For most species these northward dispersals are gradual, but, in especially good years, one can see Painted Ladies, Cloudless Sulphurs or Clouded Skippers streaming northward along migratory routes.

For some species the reverse migration, south in the fall, is more obvious. At night, they drowse in evergreen and broad-leaved trees and shrubs, fallen leaves, pieces of bark, or in a rock crevice or brush pile equipped with many nooks and crannies. Do butterflies hibernate in winter? Some butterflies go through a cycle of suspended development -- a hibernation period known as diapause. For example, most swallowtails hibernate as chrysalides while the American painted ladies hibernate as adults.

The blood of some butterfly species contains natural antifreeze agents -- glycerol and sorbitol -- which allow them to live in certain stages of their life cycle during subfreezing temperatures. During this period, their development comes to a standstill and vital functions are kept at bare minimum. What do butterflies eat? Most adult butterflies prefer sipping nectar from any flower they can access. The type of flower a butterfly visits depends on the length of the butterfly's tubelike tongue, called a proboscis.

A butterfly's tongue functions much like a flexible straw, uncoiling when it's ready to sip sweet nectar from a flower.

The tongue recoils back into position when not in use. Some species, such as red admirals and mourning cloaks, rarely visit flowers. Instead they seek out sap flows on trees, as well as pollen, fermenting fruit, bird droppings and dung. While adult butterflies will feed from a wide variety of nectar flowers, caterpillars typically have very specialized diets. For instance, plants in the mallow family are favored by the west coast lady and the common checkered-skipper caterpillars, while monarch caterpillars feed solely on milkweed.

Most caterpillars dine on specific plants, usually on the leaves, though some species do eat seeds, seedpods or flowers. Why are butterfly wings so colorful? The rich patterns and vivid colors come from layers of thousands of tiny scales, most of which are produced by pigments. Each scale is composed of a single color.

The scales protect the wings, and the overall color patterns protect the butterfly from predators. These color patterns act as camouflage of sorts, especially on the underside of the wing, enabling the butterfly to blend in with its environment. Why do butterflies like to play in mud puddles? Most butterfly caterpillars eat one, or sometimes several, related species of plants.

Usually the choice is made by the adult female when depositing eggs. Adults usually feed on nectar from flowers of plants, although many butterflies feed instead on rotting fruit, dung, etc. Butterfly migration is best exemplified by the Monarch, which is widely known to migrate in the fall to overwintering sites in California and Mexico. But in the United States, several other butterfly species engage in lesser migration distances.

Wing colors in butterflies appear in two types, pigment and structural, frequently combined in one individual. Pigment colors are familiar in paints, dyes, and inks, and are defined as specific substances with definite chemical composition. Structural colors are instead produced in a physical manner, similar to a rainbow.

Morpho butterflies are the usual example of butterflies with structural color. The vision of butterflies appears to be excellent, especially within short distances. They are able to fly with precision in areas of many obstacles. Mating Behavior. Females are usually able to engage in mating on the day of emergence, but males do not normally mate for several days. Courtship rituals vary widely among species. Butterflies are currently, with some arguments, placed into the following six families:.

Known as "Skippers," containing relatively small, fast-flying species. About 3, worldwide species. Blues, Hairstreaks and Coppers. Colors and patterns of sexes often differ. Over 5, world species. Known as "Brush-footed" butterflies, contains many subfamilies.

There are some 5, worldwide species. Known as "Swallowtail, butterflies, most species have prominent "tails. Known as "Yellows and Whites, they have those colors predominantly. More than 1, worldwide species. Known as metalmarks, are sometimes placed in the Family Lycaenidae. About 1, species in the world.