Butterflies

Butterflies are insects that are very helpful to our ecosystem.   They pollinate flowers and other plants, many of which are beneficial to us.  Their bodies are composed of multiple sections: wings, a head, a thorax, an abdomen, and legs (of which they have six).

One of the many kinds of butterflies are the monarchs.  Their most common food source is milkweed.  These butterflies have a very distinct wing pattern, which makes them easy to recognize.  But since their bright colors make them stand out, they need to have some protection against predators. For this reason, they have a compound in their bodies called cardenolide aglycones.  This makes monarchs taste very unpleasant and usually stops their most common predators (various types of bird) from eating them.

A type of butterfly that is very similar to the monarch is the viceroy.  They live in the same areas as the monarch, such as the United States and Mexico.  They feed on the leaves of willow and poplar trees and lay their eggs on them.

Another breed of butterfly is the mission blue butterfly.  They are very small, at roughly the size of a quarter.  The males are blue in color and the females are brown.  They feed on the nectar of many flowers, though their favorite kind comes from the sunflower.  They live in certain areas of California, mostly in places where there is a plant called lupine.

Butterflies help us and give us the enjoyment of watching them.  By doing this, we can discover what these creatures and the places they live in are all about.