Butterfly

Pakistan has over 100 varieties of butterflies but unfortunatelythese pretty creatures are becoming rare. You don't need a lotof space in your garden, but with a little bit of knowledge andour list of plants you could turn your garden into a butterflyparadise.

Butterflies are beautiful, flyinginsects with large scaly wings. Likeall insects, they have six jointedlegs, 3 body parts, a pair ofantennae, compound eyes, and anexoskeleton. The three body partsare the head, thorax (the chest),and abdomen (the tail end).

The butterfly's body is covered by tiny sensory hairs.The four wings and the six legs of the butterfly areattached to the thorax. The thorax contains themuscles that make the legs and wings move.

Flying

Butterflies are very good fliers. Theyhave two pairs of large wingscovered with colorful, iridescent scales inoverlapping rows. Lepidoptera (butterflies andmoths) are the only insects that have scaly wings.The wings are attached to the butterfly's thorax (mid-

section). Veins support the delicate wings and nourish themwith blood.

Butterflies can only fly if their body temperature is above86 degrees. Butterflies sun themselves to warm up in coolweather. As butterflies age, the color of the wings fades and the wingsbecome ragged.

The speed varies among butterfly species (the poisonous varieties areslower than non-poisonous varieties). The fastest butterflies (someskippers) can fly at about 30 mile per hour or faster. Slow flyingbutterflies fly about 5 mph.

Life-Cycle of a Butterfly Egg - A butterfly starts

its life as an egg, often laidon a leaf.

Larva - The larva (caterpillar) hatches froman egg and eats leaves or flowers almostconstantly. The caterpillar molts (loses its oldskin) many times as it grows. The caterpillar willincrease up to several thousand times in sizebefore pupating.

Pupa - It turns into a pupa (chrysalis); thisis a resting stage.

Adult - A beautiful, flying adult emerges. This adult will continuethe cycle.

Caterpillars

Caterpillars spend most of their time eating leaves using strong mandibles(jaws). A caterpillar's first meal, however, is its own eggshell. A fewcaterpillars are meat-eaters; the larva of the carnivorous Harvesterbutterfly eats woolly aphids.

A newly hatched caterpillar, a larva, is tiny. Most can only crawl about 3feet per minute, so they hide under leaves. Caterpillars eat and eat and eat!They spend about one month eating; they also molt (shed their skin) duringthis time. Caterpillars usually have 16 legs. They don't have nose, and theybreathe through holes in their backs; these holes are called spiracles.

Butterfly Diet

Butterflies like to eat nectar and rotting fruit. Theyuse their long proboscis to sip the liquids like astraw.

Butterflies Working: Pollination

Adult butterflies can live from a few days up to a few weeks.A butterfly is a hard worker. Her job is to spread pollen from flower toflower. When she lands to drink the nectar, pollen will stick to her legsand body, waiting to be carried to the next flower.

Predators:

Butterflies and moths have lots of enemies. They areeaten by birds, spiders and insects.

Defenses:

Butterflies have many defenses to protect against predators like warningcolours. Some butterflies taste bad and can make their predators sick ifthey are eaten. These butterflies are brightly coloured to warn a predatorof this bad taste. Camouflage helps a butterfly to blend into it'ssurroundings. They might look like a leaf or the bark of a tree at firstglance. Some butterflies mimic, or copy, other animals. Eye spots are acommon way to trick it's predator into thinking it is a bigger animal. Somebutterflies mimic other butterflies that have bad taste by also havingbright colors.

HabitatButterflies are found all over the world and in all typesof environments: hot and cold, dry and moist, at sealevel and high in the mountains. Most butterfly species, however, arefound in tropical areas, especially tropical rainforests.

Many butterflies migrate in order to avoid adverse environmentalconditions (like cold weather). Butterfly migration is not well understood.Most migrate relatively short distances (like the Painted Lady, the RedAdmiral, and the Common Buckeye), but a few (like some Monarchs)migrate thousands of miles.

How to attract butterfliesProvide the butterflies with warmth (a sunny spot),shelter (shrubs and trees) and nectar - and butterflies will start to useyour garden to feed and maybe even breed. Certain plants have moreattraction for butterflies to draw closer.

Ten plants to tryAubretia, Aubrieta 'Doctor Mules'; a carpet-formingplant that produces rich violet or blue flowers in Mayand June.

Sweet rocket, Hesperis matronalis; deliciously scentedplant that produces white, violet or purple flowers fromMay to August.

Red valerian, Centranthus ruber; a cottage garden plantthat produces clusters of red flowers from mid-summerthrough to autumn. Great for dry soil.

Lavender, Lavandula; a familiar garden favourite,producing white, pink, blue or purple aromatic flowersduring the summer months. Flowers and foliage are usedfor making pot-pourri.

Honesty, Lunaria annua; a tall plant with heart-shapedleaves and sweet-smelling pink or violet-purple flowersfrom April to June.

Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum; a plant that produces spinyflower-heads of pinkish purple from mid- to late summer.

Small scabious, Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'; a long-floweringplant that produces lavender-blue flowers from late springwell into autumn.

Butterfly bush, Buddleja davidii; this plant produces cone-shaped clusters of tiny flowers in either purple, white, pink,or red. Irresistible to butterflies!

Golden rod, Solidago 'Goldenmosa'; a clump-forming borderplant that produces feathery, golden flower-heads in latesummer and early autumn.

Ivy, Hedera helix; an evergreen climbing vine that willprovide winter nectar for the few remaining butterflies inyour garden.

Note: The ideas given in this guidebook have much greater vision than simply winninga Quiz competition. These should inspire our entire livings and these require variouslevels of commitment to practically implement the ideas in our surroundings.Depending on the nature of your school or community, you can transform such ideasinto a practical work guided and supported by Green Living Association.