The Butterfly Lifecycle

This paper will cover the lifecycle of the Monarch butterfly. The butterfly is one of the only insects to go through metamorphosis, a process that results in the beginning creature being drastically different from before. There are four stages to the butterfly lifecycle, the first stage is the egg. As an egg, the butterfly is pretty boring, it obviously cannot move or do anything but sit on a leaf.

          The caterpillar stage is when things start to get interesting, a caterpillar only has two goals, eat and survive. The caterpillar will first eat the leaf it lives on then move to the next, and the next etc., they will continue to eat until they have enough energy to last in the cocoon.

          The next step is to begin building the cocoon, the caterpillar will then trap itself in the cocoon, it will stay there for about two months, then the fun part begins. The butterfly will begin to break free from the cocoon, but humans must not help the butterfly, or it will never be able to fly. This is because of the protective liquid covering the butterfly, when they crawl through their hole they made, the mucus is wiped off. If a human intervenes, the mucus will dry, leaving the butterfly helpless.

          In conclusion, butterflies are very intelligent and persistent creatures that struggle for survival their entire life. Also NEVER help a butterfly out of the cocoon, because if you do, they will be butterwalks.