Field Trip 2009

On October 8^th Lynda, Cheryl and I went on a field trip to the “Wings of Paradise Butterfly Conservatory.” Cheryl and Lynda are working on a science course. They were learning about Butterflies and wanted to check out the conservatory for more information. I went along for the ride and to enjoy the butterflies.

 

 

We saw the following butterflies:

Rice Paper butterflies are white with dabs of black. They are found in Southeast Asia and the wing spread is 10-14cm.

 

The Owl butterflies is gray on the top and the lower half of the top is brown with a white ring in the middle that looks like the owl’s eyes. The underside is yellow and brown. It is found in Central and South America. They can spread their wings 12to15cm across.

The Monarch butterflies are orange and black and are found in North America and Australia. Its wing spread is 7to9cm.

The life cycle of a Monarch butterfly is:

1.The egg- eggs hatch 2 or 3 days after being laid.

2. Caterpillar- can eat up to 20 times their weight a day. They must shed their skin several times in order to grow.

3. Chrysalis – Inside the body of the caterpillar breaks down and reforms into a butterfly.

4. The Butterfly emerges from the chrysalis and hangs underneath while pluming fluid from its abdomen into its wings. When its wings are fully expanded and dried it can fly away.

The migratory Monarch butterfly lives 6 to 8 months. They leave Ontario in the in fall and overwinter in Mexico. In the spring they mate on the milkweed plant in southern Texas. It takes 3or4 generations to make it back to Ontario by mid May.

As a child the butterflies that I remember are the Monarch and a white one called cabbage butterfly.

 

Brenda

The facts are found on the butterfly conservatory’s guide