UPCOMING EVENTS |
June 9 & 10 Butterfly & Herb Fair
June 16
Cultivate Your Creativity Workshops |
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Butterfly Life Cycle
All butterflies, including our state butterfly,
the zebra longwing, go through four distinct stages during their
life cycle: The egg, the caterpillar or larva, the chrysalis or
pupa, and the adult.
Watercolor illustrations by Lynda Chandler
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1st Stage: Eggs
The female butterfly places the eggs on or near its host plant, the
corkystem passionvine (Passiflora suberosa). She can lay over 1000
eggs in her lifetime. The eggs of the zebra longwing butterfly are
yellow and cone shaped. |
2nd Stage: Caterpillars or larvae
These pudgy creatures live to eat. But their skin does not stretch
along with their growing bodies, so they molt. The zebra longwing
sheds its skin at least four times before looking for a good spot
to begin the next stage. |
3rd Stage: Pupation
The amazing process of transformation from eating machine to winged
beauty starts upside down for this caterpillar. The zebra longwing
caterpillar hangs upside down by attaching itself to a branch or twig
with a small pad of silk. During this time, the pupal skin (or chrysalis)
is forming under the larval skin. With a final shrug, the larval skin
falls, revealing what is now the chrysalis. It is cleverly disguised
as a dried up brown leaf. Inside this tiny package, the wings, proboscis
and antennae develop as the pudgy caterpillar becomes an adult butterfly. |
4th Stage: Adult
Adult After approximately 5-9 days, the adult butterfly splits the
pupal skin and emerges. Its wings are folded and its body is bloated
and full of fluid. The young adult butterfly hangs upside down and
pumps the fluid from its body into the wings, which quickly become
stiff and straight. Soon after the wings dry, the butterfly will fly
away to mate, thus beginning the cycle again. |
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Help the Gardens grow by volunteering!
Volunteer Orientations are held the 4th Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. |
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