Butterflies
are one of the most beautiful and charismatic insects around us.They
belong to order Lepidoptera. Butterflies often have brightly coloured wings with unique
patterns made up of tiny scales. Butterflies have taste receptors on their
feet. They are one of the most studied group
of insects too. Still a lot remains to be explored about them, like life cycle
of particular species, their feeding habits at different stages etc.
A butterfly’s lifecycle is made up of
four parts, egg, larva, pupa and adult. Butterflies can live in the adult stage
from anywhere between a week and a year, depending on the species.
At larval stage butterflies feed on
tender leaves, buds, flowers, fruits etc. Different species feed on different
plant parts and variety of plants. At adult stage
butterflies feed on nectar, minerals from damp patches or mud(called as
mudpuddling), tree sap or pod sap, animal scat or dead animals. But nectar is
an important food source of butterflies.
Many butterflies have developed
interesting ways of defending themselves from predators. One method is camouflage,
or “cryptic coloration”, where the butterfly has the ability to look like a
leaf or blend into the bark of a tree to hide from predators. Some
butterflies have tail like antenna and eye spots like eyes by which predator
gets confused easily. Another method is
chemical defense, where the butterfly has evolved to have toxic chemicals in
its body, they are also called as milkweed butterflies. These species of
butterfly are often brightly coloured, and predators have learned over time to
associate their bright colour with the bad taste of the chemicals. The greatest
threats to butterflies are habitat loss due to residential,
commercial and agricultural development also use of pesticides and de-weeding. Climate change is also threatening species
of butterflies.
For butterflies conservation,
we can maintain home gardens or community parks with larval and nectar food
plants for them.
In addition
to this awareness should be created regarding Organic gardening methods or
minimal pesticides and fertilizers usage.
In city
areas, hills,open grasslands and scrub areas act as lungs of the city. These
areas harbor and support urban biodiversity by offering food and suitable
habitat to butterflies, to other insects and birds etc.
Conserving
these hills and open areas will help in long term conservation of butterflies.
