The American Painted Lady Butterfly

The American Painted Lady or American Lady also known as the Vanessa virginiensis is a butterfly found throughout North America.

Vanessa virginiensis lives in flowery habitats, usually in mountains. The larvae feed on various Asteraceae, especially the cudweeds of genus Gnaphalium. All stages of the life cycle can be found throughout temperate North America as well as Madeira and the Canary Islands. Occasionally individuals can be found as far as south-west Europe.

Vanessa virginiensis is most easily distinguishable by its two large eyespots on the ventral side, whereas V. cardui has four small eyespots and V. annabella has none. V. virginiensis also uniquely features a white dot within the forewing subapical field, set in pink on the underside and usually also in the dorsal side's orange field.

The largest spot in the black forewing tips is white in V. cardui, pale orange in this species, and orange in the West Coast species. The latter also has a purer orange background color of the dorsal side, as opposed to the darker and (especially in V. virginiensis) redder hue of the other two.

A less reliable indicator is the row of black eyespots on the dorsal submarginal hindwing. In the American Painted Lady, those on the opposite ends of the row are often larger and have blue "pupils". In V. annabella, this applies to the inner two spots, while in V. cardui some of the black eyespots may have tiny blue pupils in the summer morph, but usually have none at all, and the eyespots themselves are all roughly the same size. The size of the wings are about 5 cm (2 in) across.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt9kN9AYAUQ

The Glasswing Butterfly

The Greta Oto is a brush-footed butterfly, and is a member of the clearwing clade. Its wingspan is 2.2 to 2.4 in (5.6 to 6.1 cm). The adults range from Mexico through Panama.

Greta Oto visits common flowers like lantana, but prefers to lay its eggs on plants of the tropical nightshade genus Cestrum. The red and purple striped caterpillars feed on these toxic plants and store the alkaloids in their tissues, making them distasteful to predators such as birds.

They retain their toxicity in adulthood. The same alkaloids that make them poisonous also are converted into pheromones by the males, which use them to attract females.

The Greta Oto adults also exhibit a number of interesting behaviors, such as long migrations and lekking among males.

Cause this butterfly's wings are transparent, it blends into its background, thus is particularly difficult to spot in the wild. The tissue between the wing's veins looks like the panes of a little glass window.

It's hard to believe that these beautiful glasswing butterflies could have metamorphosized from a caterpillar, especially an ugly one that looks like a hairy centipede. Yet if it was not for these leaf munching machines there would be no adult butterflies.

The Glasswing butterflies can carry up to 40 times their body weight.

Another interesting facts about butterflies in general, and glasswings in particular, is that they taste, through their 6 legs.

The Top speed for a glasswing is about 8 mph. 12 km/hr.





http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/almost-invisible-the-incredible-glasswing-butterfly/

The Swallowtail Butterfly

They are large, colorful butterflies that form the family Papilionidae. There are at least 550 species, and though the majorities are tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica. The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of Australia (genus Ornithoptera).


The Swallowtail butterflies in the tribe Papilionini number about 225 species and studied have been made on their host-plant coevolution and phylogeny. A study found that the Papilios are monophyletic and old morphological classifications where also found to be valid in that they formed clusters. Species belonging to the groups that use Rutaceae as host plants formed two groups corresponding to Old World and American taxa. Those that fed on Lauraceae and Magnoliaceae were found to form another cluster which includes both Asian and American taxa.

Swallowtails differ from all other butterflies in a number of anatomical traits. Most notably, their caterpillars possess a unique organ behind their heads, called the osmeterium. Normally hidden, this forked structure can be everted when the caterpillar is threatened, and emits smelly secretions containing terpenes. The adults are often tailed like the forked tail of some swallows, giving the insect its name.

Swallowtail butterflies, being large, colorful, and attractive, have been the target of butterfly collectors in earlier times. The largest of these, the Birdwing butterflies are particularly sought after and are cultured in butterfly farms for the purpose of collectors.
Many members of the family feed as larvae on plants of the citrus family, Rutaceae. Some of these attractive butterflies are therefore considered pests in citrus orchards.

http://www.genehanson.com/butterfly6.htm

The Monarch Butterfly

The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae), in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer.

In Europe it is resident in the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, and is found as an occasional migrant in Western Europe. Its wings feature an easily recognizable orange and black pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 centimeters (3½–4 in).[6] (The Viceroy butterfly has a similar size, color, and pattern, but can be distinguished by an extra black stripe across the hind wing.) Female Monarchs have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot called the "androconium" in the center of each hind wing from which pheromones are released. Males are also slightly larger.

The Monarch is famous for its southward migration and northward return in summer in the Americas which spans the life of three to four generations of the butterfly.

Monarchs can live a life of two to eight weeks in a garden having their host Asclepias plants and sufficient flowers for nectar. This is especially true if the flower garden happens to be surrounded by native forest that seems to be lacking in flowers.

http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/

Brief Backbground on Butterflies:

Brief History of Butterflies:

I just love butterflies, they are so colorful and so interesting to look at. There are so many different types of them, so I thought that I would share some of the types of butterflies that I think are really cool. Enjoy!

Butterflies probably evolved about 150 million years ago. Of the 220,000 species of Lepidoptera, about 45,000 species are butterflies, which probably evolved from moths. Butterflies are found throughout the world, except in Antarctica, and are especially numerous in the tropics; they fall into eight different families.

Lifecycle of Butterflies:

Every butterfly or moth goes through four stages in its life. Each stage is very different from the others. The cycle of stages is called metamorphosis.

1. Egg

The egg is the first stage in the butterfly and moth life cycle. Butterfly and moth eggs are very small and round, oval or cylindrical. Many have ribs or other tiny features. Females lay their eggs on or near the plants that will later become caterpillar food.


2. Larva

The larva hatches from the egg. Butterfly and moth larvae are usually called caterpillars. Caterpillars spend most of their time eating. Butterflies and moths do all of their growing when they're caterpillars, and food gives them the energy and body-building materials they need. A caterpillar's exoskeleton can't stretch or grow, so the caterpillar sheds its skin, or molts, several times as it grows.


3. Pupa

When a caterpillar has finished growing, it forms a pupa. From the outside, the pupa looks as if it's resting. But inside, every part of the caterpillar is changing. Most of its organs and other body parts dissolve and re-form into the organs, tissues, limbs and wings of the adult. Butterfly pupae are called chrysalises. Many moth caterpillars spin cocoons and form pupae inside them.


4. Adult

When the pupa has finished changing, it molts one last time and emerges as an adult butterfly or moth. The adult emerges with its wings folded up against its body. The butterfly or moth pumps blood into the wings to expand them. The adult is the stage when butterflies and moths mate and reproduce. Females lay their eggs on plants or other surfaces, and the cycle starts all over again.

10 Interesting Facts about Butterflies:

1. The name 'Butterfly' was first coined to describe the Yellow Brimstone Butterfly, a variety commonly seen across Europe. It was actually known as 'Butter-colored Fly' and that later became 'Butterfly'.

2. There are about 28,000 known Butterfly species throughout the world.

3. Butterflies taste food by standing on it. This is because their taste sensors are found in their feet.

4. Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.

5. Butterflies - and moths - belong to the order Leptidoptera. This is derived from the Greek term for 'scale-wing'.

6. The wings of Butterflies are actually transparent. The vivid colors are due to overlapping bright scales. Butterfly wings are very delicate and can get damaged if handled. The scales too can get rubbed off if touched.

7. Butterflies have intricate and pretty patterns on their wings. These designs are intended for camouflage purposes, so the predators, like birds, either can't make out the Butterflies in the trees or bushes or are scared off into thinking them to be some other larger creature.

8. The patterns are also useful in courtship rituals. Butterflies fly in circles around one another to find a mate.

9. Some Butterflies are migratory. They flies thousands of miles in the winter to places having a warmer climate, and return in the spring.

10. Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.

Here is a Video of Butterflies being Born:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez0H7VJMWYs

Information about Butterflies: