The life cycle of a butterfly

First, a male butterfly and a female butterfly meet. They mate, and then the female goes in search of a special plant. Each species of butterfly has its own favorite plant. We call this plant a host plant.

Once she has found a suitable plant, the female lays her eggs on it. Sometimes she lays just one, sometimes several!

After a while, small caterpillars hatch from the eggs. They are hungry! They immediately start eating the plant on which they were born. Caterpillars only eat their own species of plant.

Because they eat so much, caterpillars grow quickly. Their skin becomes too small and bursts open. Underneath that old skin is a new one! This happens about five times—we call this molting.

When the caterpillar is big enough, it turns into a chrysalis. Something very special happens inside the chrysalis: the caterpillar turns into a butterfly. This is called metamorphosis.

When the butterfly has finished growing, it crawls out of the chrysalis. Now the butterfly goes in search of flowers to drink nectar and perhaps a mate to lay eggs with. And so it all starts again!