How does butterflies reproduce

Some species have a pupal stage that lasts for two years. It may look like nothing is going on but big changes are happening inside.

Special cells that were present in the larva are now growing rapidly. They will become the legs, wings, eyes and other parts of the adult butterfly.

Many of the original larva cells will provide energy for these growing adult cells. The adult stage is what most people think of when they think of butterflies. They look very different from the larva. The caterpillar has a few tiny eyes, stubby legs and very short antennae. The adults have long legs, long antennae, and compound eyes. They can also fly by using their large and colorful wings. The one thing they can't do is grow.

The caterpillar's job was to eat. The adult's job is to mate and lay eggs. Some species of adult butterflies get energy by feeding on nectar from flowers but many species don't feed at all.

Flying comes in handy. The adult female can easily fly from place to place to find the right plant for its eggs. This is important because caterpillars can't travel far.

Small Heaths congregate at landmarks such as trees and bushes in their open grassland habitats where climate seems to be the attraction; the males competing for the most sheltered spots. Virgin females deliberately avoid the attentions of searching males as they make their way towards the lek but, once there, they encourage advances with a conspicuous circling flight.

Once male and female have found each other, more intimate courtship takes place. This ranges from the aerobatic feats of the Silver-washed Fritillary, where the male flies loops around the female in midair, to the delicate, face-to-face, antennae-waggling display of Wood Whites. Chemical signals can be important too, and not only in attraction. Male Large White butterflies, for example, transfer an anti-aphrodisiac chemical to females during mating.

This deters other males from courting the recently mated female. Incredibly, certain tiny wasps can detect this same chemical and use it to track down Large White eggs, which they then parasitise with their own offspring.

In many butterfly species, females mate only when they first emerge. This is why males tend to emerge a few days ahead of females. After mating, females then try to avoid the unwarranted attentions of amorous males while they get on with the important task of egg-laying. However, the female Green-veined White will typically mate with several males over the course of her lifetime and, by doing so, will increase the total number of eggs that she can lay.

A short time later, females deposit numerous tiny eggs on host plants, on which the hatchling caterpillars feed, grow and perpetuate the lifecycle of the species.

Although entomologists are still working out the specific cues that trigger reproductive behaviors, environmental cues, such as day length and temperature, probably play a role.

Once the urge strikes, males of many species begin seeking and courting females by performing visual displays and emitting pheromones.

The males of some species take up position on a conspicuous perch while waiting for females to fly by; others follow female pheromone trails for up to a mile to locate potential breeding partners. While the females of some species select the males with which they will mate, the males of some species actually locate female caterpillars , wait for them to pupate and then guard their pupae until they emerge, at which time the males mate with the females, who are unable to fly away.

Butterflies land on the ground or a suitable perch to mate.