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How do butterflies change from a caterpillar into a butterfly?
A caterpillar turns into a butterfly by melting its body inside a cocoon and rebuilding it into a new shape.
First, a butterfly egg hatches and a caterpillar comes out. The caterpillar eats leaves all the time and grows very fast. As it grows, its skin gets too tight, so it sheds its skin a few times.
When the caterpillar is big enough, it holds onto a branch and wraps a hard shell around itself. This is called a cocoon (or pupa). Inside the cocoon, the caterpillar's body turns almost completely to liquid and reshapes itself.
Inside this liquid, wings, legs and antennae slowly form. After a few weeks, the cocoon cracks open and a butterfly with wet wings comes out.
The butterfly dries its wings in the sun until they get hard. Once its wings are hard, the butterfly starts to fly. This amazing change is called metamorphosis.
Quick facts
- A butterfly hatches from an egg first as a caterpillar.
- The caterpillar sheds its skin a few times as it grows.
- The caterpillar wraps a cocoon around itself.
- Inside the cocoon, the caterpillar's body reshapes itself.
- The butterfly comes out of the cocoon with wet wings and dries them in the sun.
- This process of change is called metamorphosis.
Check what you remember
4 questions — all of them come from the quick facts above. There is no score and no wrong turn.
1. What comes out first when a butterfly egg hatches?
2. What does the caterpillar do as it grows?
3. What are the butterfly's wings like when it comes out of the cocoon?
4. What is the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly called?
Where this comes from
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1 tr.wikipedia.org 80/100Butterfly - Wikipedia
Explains the life cycle and types of butterflies in a simple way.
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