Life Cycle of Butterflies

There are four stages in butterflies’ life cycle, meaning that they undergo complete metamorphosis:

(1) Eggs:

• After mating, female butterflies lay eggs on specific host plants to ensure the larvae have enough food when they hatch.The reproductive habits of different butterfly species vary, including where they lay eggs and the number of eggs. The shape and color of the eggs also differ among species.
• The eggs take several days to several weeks to hatch.

(2) Larvae:

• The food sources for butterfly caterpillars vary. Most are herbivorous and only consume certain plant species (host plants); only a few are carnivorous.
• The external appearance of different butterfly species’ caterpillars also varies. They undergo 4-6 molt as they grow, with each molt representing an increase in instar, resulting in changes to their appearance.

(3) Pupae:

• In the final instar stage, caterpillars continuously spin silk to create a silk pad, which allows them to secure themselves in a suitable position, such as the underside of a leaf or on a branch, to form a pupa.
• Afterward, the caterpillars shed their skin and begin to break their organs, then rebuild the organs of the adult.
• Pupae can take different forms, including suspended pupae (which hang upside down) and girdled pupae (which are positioned head up with a silk bundle on the thorax).

(4) Adults:

• Once the organs develop inside the pupa, the adult butterfly emerges through eclosion.
• The newly emerged butterfly then waits for fluids to be pumped from its abdomen into its wing veins, allowing the wings to expand and harden before it can move.
• With a lifespan of only a few weeks to a few months, adult butterfly seizes the time to reproduce the next generation.

On this page, you could find the photos recorded the eggs, larvae, pupae, and adult of Red-based Jezebel (Delias pasithoe) found in Yim Tin Tsai.

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