Man does not die in every butterfly lives. Gaft. Favorite actor. Favorite Poet. Favorite lines. The most beautiful insects

A butterfly is a bright and beautiful insect with large multi-colored wings that flutters all summer from flower to flower, helping to pollinate it. But where does the butterfly live, where does it sleep, what does it eat, how does it spend winter months, - the answers to these questions will be of interest to every inquisitive person.

Butterfly world

Representatives of the Lepidoptera order, which include butterflies according to the biological hierarchy, can be found on almost all continents and in any climate, except for the coldest - Antarctica. They love to fly on flowering meadows in the middle latitudes and among the ice of Greenland, on the islands Pacific Ocean and in the highlands of the Himalayas.

Butterflies belong to the most numerous and ancient order, which has more than 158 thousand species. Lepidoptera are cold-blooded (ectothermic) insects that can regulate their own body temperature by taking heat from outside or releasing it into environment. Because of this, most of their species prefer to live in tropical climates.

A butterfly is called an insect complete transformation, i.e. its development passes through all stages: eggs, larvae or caterpillars to pupa and adult (adult). Also for most Lepidoptera characteristic feature body structure is the presence of a mouth apparatus with a proboscis, through which they drink nectar. They also have a wide variety of wing shapes and sizes: from 2 mm to 28 cm.

Where the butterfly lives, what it eats and its lifespan, most often depend on the climatic zone: these insects prefer hot and humid natural climate i.e. the tropics. The largest variety of species lives in forests South America(40 thousand), in the South and South-East Asia(more than 10 thousand), where there are ideal conditions in count sunny days, high humidity and camouflage among dense foliage.

The appearance of a butterfly, where they live and what they eat

Butterflies among invertebrates have the most complex body structure and the most beautiful appearance. The body of the insect consists of the abdomen, chest, head with antennae and proboscis, 3 pairs of legs and two pairs of beautiful wings, which contain all the beauty of nature, various patterns and colors.

In total, the butterfly has 4 wings, each of which is covered with scales ranging from 100 thousand to 1 million in larger tropical species. They are: pigment (containing a bright coloring matter) and optical (reflecting and refracting light).

Butterflies feed exclusively on liquids that they can drink through their proboscis: flower nectar, tree sap, pollen, dung, and rotting fruit. They can suck moisture from puddles or leaves, sometimes sit down in search of a drink on a person, attracted by the smell of sweat, which contains salts and minerals necessary for their life.

Life expectancy also depends on where the butterfly lives, its type and size: smaller ones can live only a few days, and large insects that live in the tropics can live up to several months. Representatives of middle latitudes live on average 3-4 weeks, and northern ones - up to 2 years.

Life cycle

The life cycle of Lepidoptera begins with the laying of eggs by an adult insect directly on the leaves or branches of plants, where the butterfly lives (or rather its egg) at the first stage of its development, which lasts 8-15 days. The color, number and shape of the eggs depend on the species, in total there can be up to 1 thousand pieces, most of which do not survive to adulthood. Butterfly species living in temperate climate, usually lay their eggs in late autumn or early winter, and they are dormant until spring.

The next stage - caterpillars, also takes place on the plants that they feed on. According to their way of life, they are divided into those who openly crawl over leaves and branches in search of food, and those who hide under special covers made independently using silky threads and parts of leaves. By color, some caterpillars are bright, demonstrating their inedibility, while others are disguised as green parts of plants.

Duration life cycle depends on the temperature and climate where butterflies live in nature: in northern species, caterpillars can run into hibernation(diapause) until next spring, and the cycle of their development can be delayed up to 7-10 years.

The most immobile stage - the pupa - looks like a cylinder of light color, as it matures, the color changes to the one that is characteristic of this species. Pupae can attach themselves either to leaves or lie on the ground, not eating anything for a long time.

An adult butterfly (imago) crawls out of the pupa, pushing off the shell with its paws, and males are born earlier than females. After leaving the shell, its wings gradually straighten and harden, and a characteristic coloring also appears.

Where do butterflies winter?

Most species of butterflies live only in the summer, laying eggs for the next generation, and then the insects die. But there are long-livers among them.

Where do butterflies live in winter and how do they hide from the cold? The answer depends on the species of Lepidoptera. So, some butterflies that live in Russia (urticaria, lemongrass, burdock) hibernate for the winter, climbing into cracks or hollows of trees and wrapping themselves in their wings. Many climb closer to warm human habitation and fall asleep there.

But there are also migrant butterflies, which, like birds, huddle in flocks of up to 1 million individuals and fly to warmer climates in autumn. southern countries, sometimes located 1000 km from their homeland. Scientists have been wrestling with the mystery of how these creatures find their way for decades. After all, having a more primitive nervous system, they are not able to navigate by the sun.

The origin of the word "butterfly" in Orthodox countries originates from the words "old woman" or "grandmother", because. Since ancient times, people have represented these insects as the souls of dead people. This belief still exists in villages and villages in the Russian hinterland to this day.

The most big butterfly- South American tropical scoop or Agrippina's tizania, its wingspan is 28 cm, in Russia - Maak's sailboat (up to 13.5 cm). The smallest is a baby moth living on canary islands, its dimensions barely reach 2-4 mm.

A butterfly, flying from flower to flower, is able to cover up to 10 km in 1 hour, thus moving to the place where it will lay its eggs.

One of the most amazing butterflies- Greta - amazes with its transparent wings, through which the whole world around is visible.

The most beautiful insects

These amazing creatures, regardless of where the butterflies live - in tropical forests or in the meadow temperate latitudes, in the mountains or in hot African desert, constantly fly between plants and flowers, collecting nectar and delighting people with their original beauty.

Why is the Dog so devoted,
And in his love is boundless?
But there is always a question in the eyes
Does the owner love it?
Because someone
Because in the past the cage!
Because the person
He betrayed him often.
I'm wandering the streets
I look into people's faces
Now I'm watching everything
So that, like a Dog, not to be mistaken.
***

I build mental bridges
Their measurements are simple,
I build them from the void
To go where you are.
Covering the ground with bridges
I never found you
He opened his eyes, and there ... a cliff,
My journey is over, I have arrived.

Evening is not forever. Rush - like a New Year's moment,
Snow, having searched, will come down without leaving a trace.
I know that I love you very much, that I love you very much - today,
Tomorrow may never be.

His sarcasm is sharper than a pin. -
Scared the victims,
Hits right on target. And even mutts
Powerlessly barking: "Gaft-gaft-gaft!"

Through pain, risk, effort
A cocoon made its way to the light,
To silk wings
They amazed our eyes.
…
Frozen in the nectar mixture,
Like a circus performer on a tightrope
keep balance
Wings of a velvet dress.
…
One day life
Incomparable to our age,
Sit on forget-me-not
Impossible for a man.
…
So, fluttering alone,
Kissing flower petals
She is for every flower
Gives live pollen.
…
When the caterpillar in the cocoon
Will turn slowly
From under the thread fibers
Her soul will break out.
…
Illuminating the life of the past
Fly under the sky.
People we don't die
A butterfly lives in everyone.

Everyone knows Life
Theater. This slave, that
emperor, who is a sage,
Who is an idiot, That is silent, and that is a speaker. Honest or
provocateur. Role people
God gives. For him we are all
toys, Alexander Sergeevich arranges us from heaven
Pushkin, And opposite Georges
Dantes!

The world is full of sounds!
Sounds are all of us!
and only God
quietly walks between us.

There are less and less living in the phone book,
The deadly scythe rings in the ears,
More and more coffin lids are knocking,
Alien voices answer.
But I won't erase these numbers
And I will never frame it.
I will find everyone, I will call them all,
Wherever they are, in heaven or hell.
While chattering and carelessly lived -
Day and night rounds ended.
Now about what was left unsaid,
They sound like dots, beeps.

"Oh, if she were alive,
I would give anything for her, I gave up everything.”
Words, words, words, words, words.
We all pronounce them after death.
And poems are written in repentance,
But in the depths of the soul will forever be with us
Sins, sins, sins, sins, sins
Which cannot be redeemed by words.

Me and you, just the two of us?
Oh what a delusion.
Walls, sconces, wallpapers are with us,
Night, champagne, sofa.
With us, silence in the apartment
And behind the windows of drops,
With us everything that is in this world
Went down on the bed.
We are just points of the universe
Someone's fine carving
Our rise and fall
It's called destiny.
We breathe into each other's faces
The clock strikes at midnight,
And above us someone from above
Everything has been decided for us.

There is no escape from thoughts.
Drink or sleep, watch or read
More and more I remember my childhood
Marshmallow-chocolate paradise.
Father's belt whistled over his ear with a buckle,
The mother drowned out the stormy ocean,
Boiled eyes whitish lambs,
And the hurricane melted on the nerves.
Father went through the war, he was a military man,
One of a kind, surviving.
I secretly carried bread to German prisoners,
Accidentally loving your enemies.
Sucked Y's and X's
Unraveled at school without end,
My forelock on my forehead and two thieves fixes
Were the solved formula of the face.
I skipped school in stadiums
Walking in the cast-iron crowd for a breakthrough,
I remember every miss on the gate,
All other misses forgotten.
I walk, as before, along the long alley,
The boy is sitting, he will start all over again,
In his hand, clutching a penknife,
On the bench something cuts about love.

What color is the dirt? - Anyone.
The floor can be dirty and the word
Idea, hands, area, tires,
Dirt is an extra touch, and there is no picture.
Dirt in the eternal dispute with purity,
And his spirit, stinking and thick,
Your stench, ugliness
Mud calls simplicity.
And purity leads to executions,
Dirt is the simplicity of murderers and executioners.
In the ornament of folklore
There is in the deceitful simplicity of her speeches
The deadly tone of the sentence.
Dirt - simplicity is worse than theft.
Because of people like us who are in love with her,
Silence of the blind majority
It ended with a terrible howl of prisoners.
And so simple is holy simplicity,
What, forgetting to put on the mask of saints,
Openly, brazenly, foaming at the mouth
Makes dirty fights.
Already close to the dangerous line,
Empty souls distort faces.

Oh, eternal earthly Simplicity,
Oh, eternal earthly Purity,
Savior of the world - Beauty,
Come quickly, I want to have time to wash myself.

Beautiful, weightless, bewitching - these epithets are addressed to butterflies. But how much they can please with charm and grace amazing creatures? It is generally accepted that their lifespan is short. However, this opinion cannot be called fair.

How to determine the life span of winged beauties

How long do "flying flowers" live? Life cycle consists of all phases of insect development:

• egg;
• caterpillar;
• chrysalis;
• adult, imago.

When determining the life span of a butterfly, scientists take into account the duration of each stage. Therefore, the terms are much longer than a few days. No wonder: in some stages, the future butterfly spends most of its existence.

When determining the duration of the life cycle of the Vanessa species, it is taken into account that In the egg phase, the insect spends 4 days, in the caterpillar stage - up to a decade, depending on the amount of accumulated fat for transformation into a moth. In the form of a chrysalis, the future butterfly will live for about a week, and then - an apotheosis, turning into an ideal of grace and beauty.

However, an adult will stay with a light-winged charm for two weeks, no more. And during this period, she should have time to lay eggs. Probably for this reason, nature allowed female butterflies to live a few days more than males.

Components of the life cycle

Moth life span depends on many factors. Time is affected by:

• climatic conditions;
• species affiliation;
• coloring.

The lifespan of butterflies largely depends on the climate. Most species live in tropical and subtropical conditions: capricious beauties love heat and light. But geographical latitude directly determines the life span of an insect.

How long will an insect live? Inhabitants northern latitudes can live up to two years. There is little food in rather harsh conditions, the larva does not have time to accumulate useful substances to move to the next stage. The chrysalis next spring will not be able to become a butterfly. Thanks to "canning", the life of the future winged beauty is extended for a whole year!

Affect the lifespan of a butterfly and insect migration. For a year beautiful creations make 2 flights from late spring to early autumn. During this time, 2 generations of adults will change. The pupae will open in late summer or early spring.

Northern butterflies are stronger than southern ones!

Northern insects have only one migration. And they will live for about a year. And wintering insects will spend the longest period of their lives in the pupal stage. The individual leaves the protective cocoon only with the onset of real heat, having prepared for the cold from the beginning of autumn.

The species to which the moth belongs is also of considerable importance. How long does an insect live? Some species live no longer than a few hours. And the term is calculated from the laying of eggs to the transformation into an adult. It is wrong to believe that all butterflies can live for several hours or days: on average, they delight people with beauty for several weeks. True, there are long-livers.

These include the inhabitants of the northern latitudes. Insects have an amazing feature. They go into suspended animation. In this state, metabolic processes slow down, energy is not spent on maintaining life. Butterflies are resistant even to the treatment of plants with pesticides!

Long-livers among the "flying flowers"

Record holders among winged beauties are insects of the Monarch species. Adults are able to live up to a year, setting a real record among Lepidoptera.

Kapustnitsy flutter through the air for about a month. Some of the lemongrass specimens manage to live for several years, even withstanding the temperature below 20 degrees below zero! But bluebird butterflies enjoy life for several days. They were given the shortest sentence.

At home winged beauty live longer than in nature. But how much effort will have to make for this!

The temperature and wintering time also affect the life span of the butterfly. Severe colds can destroy tender creatures, and in the warmth of a human dwelling or during thaws, a moth that has come out of a state of suspended animation can die from exhaustion.

Beauty victims?

It is known that during her life a graceful beauty goes through several stages, turning from a larva into a caterpillar, a butterfly is the final phase of development. If the insect has not had time to accumulate nutrients for the next stage, it lives longer. The time of existence increases to several years!

In terms of color diversity, the wonderful "flying flowers" do not know rivals in the world of insects. There are amazing specimens. Among them and transparent butterfly, recognized as a real miracle of nature, and tropical beauties shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, among which there are real giants with a wingspan of up to 28 cm.

But it is the coloring that causes the shortening of the life span: collectors are ready to give a lot of money to decorate their collections with the desired specimens.

"Home" butterflies

natural enemies also make it difficult to live longer beautiful insect. Therefore, under artificial conditions, butterflies live longer due to the disappearance of danger.

If desired, you can increase the lifespan of a butterfly. To do this, it is necessary to create conditions for the insect that are as close as possible to natural, inhabited adult. You will need:

• warm, and for some tropical species the temperature will have to be maintained at least 28 degrees;
• sufficient lighting;
• nutrition.

It is rather problematic to place plants in the apartment so that the butterflies feed on nectar, as in nature. But you can replace the usual diet and honey water.

If all conditions are met, the butterfly will bring pleasant moments. She will leave in gratitude for the care of her descendants, who will live generation after generation, fluttering around the apartment and leaving a feeling of summer and joy.

Butterfly belongs to the class Insects, phylum Arthropoda, order Lepidoptera (Lepidóptera).

The Russian name "butterfly" comes from the Old Slavonic word "babаka", denoting the concept of "old woman" or "grandmother". In the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, it was believed that these were the souls of the dead, so people treated them with respect.

Butterfly: description and photo. The structure and appearance of butterflies

In the structure of a butterfly, two main sections are distinguished - a body protected by a hard chitinous shell and wings.

A butterfly is an insect whose body consists of:

• Head, inactively connected to the chest. Butterfly head has o round shape with a slightly flattened occiput. Round or oval convex eyes of a butterfly in the form of hemispheres, occupying most of the lateral surface of the head, have a complex facet structure. Butterflies have color vision, and moving objects perceive better than stationary ones. Many species have additional simple parietal eyes behind the antennae. The structure of the oral apparatus depends on the species and can be of a sucking or gnawing type.

• Breast having a three-segment structure. The front part is much smaller than the middle and back, where there are three pairs of legs, which have a structure characteristic of insects. On the shins of the front legs of the butterfly there are spurs designed to maintain the hygiene of the antennae.
• The abdomen has the shape of an elongated cylinder, consisting of ten ring-shaped segments with spiracles located on them.

Butterfly structure

The antennae of a butterfly are located on the border of the parietal and frontal parts of the head. They help butterflies to navigate in the environment, perceiving air vibrations and various smells.

The length and structure of the antennae depend on the species.

Two pairs of butterfly wings, covered with flat scales of various shapes, have a membranous structure and are pierced by transverse and longitudinal veins. The size of the hind wings can be the same as the front wings or much smaller than them. The pattern of butterfly wings varies from species to species and captivates with its beauty.

When macro photography, the scales on the wings of butterflies are very clearly visible - they can have completely different shape and color.

Butterfly wings - macro photography

The appearance and coloration of the butterfly's wings serve not only for intraspecific sexual recognition, but also act as a protective camouflage that allows you to blend in with your surroundings. Therefore, colors can be both monochrome and variegated with a complex pattern.

The size of a butterfly, or better to say the wingspan of a butterfly, can range from 2 mm to 31 cm.

Classification and types of butterflies

The numerous detachment of Lepidoptera includes more than 158 thousand representatives. There are several classification systems for butterflies, quite complex and intricate, with changes constantly taking place in them. The most successful is the scheme that divides this detachment into four suborders:

1) Primary toothed moths. These are small butterflies with a wingspan of 4 to 15 mm, with gnawing mouthparts and antennae that reach up to 75% of the size of the forewings in length. The family consists of 160 species of butterflies.

Typical representatives are:

• golden winged ( Micropteryx calthella);
• marigold smallwing ( Micropteryx calthella).

2) Proboscis butterflies. The wingspan of these insects, covered with dark small scales with cream or black spots, does not exceed 25 mm. Until 1967, they were classified as primary toothed moths, with which this family has much in common.

The most famous butterflies from this suborder:

• flour fire ( Asopia farinalis L..),
• moth fir cones (Dioryctrica abieteila).

3) Heterobatmia, represented by one family Heterobathmiidae.

4) Proboscis butterflies, which make up the most numerous suborder, consisting of several dozen families, which include more than 150 thousand species of butterflies. Appearance and the sizes of representatives of this suborder are very diverse. Below are several families that demonstrate the diversity of proboscis butterflies.

• Sailboat family, represented by the mean and large butterflies with a wingspan of 50 to 280 mm. The pattern on the wings of butterflies consists of black, red or blue spots. various shapes, well visible on white or yellow background. The most famous of them are:
  1. Butterfly swallowtail;
  2. Sailboat "Glory of Bhutan";
  3. Birdwing of Queen Alexandra and others.

Butterfly swallowtail

• Nymphalidae family, feature which is the absence of thickened veins on wide angular wings with variegated coloration and various patterns. Butterfly wingspan varies from 50 to 130 mm. Representatives of this family are:
  1. Butterfly admiral;
  2. Butterfly diurnal peacock eye;
  3. Butterfly urticaria;
  4. Butterfly mourning, etc.

Butterfly Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Butterfly diurnal peacock eye

Butterfly urticaria (Aglais urticae)

There are species of butterflies that do not have a mouth apparatus: to maintain life, they spend those reserves nutrients that were accumulated back in the caterpillar stage.

These butterflies include the Madagascar comet, whose wingspan is 14-16 cm. The life expectancy of this butterfly is 2-3 days.

Also among the butterflies there are "vampires". For example, males of some species of cutworms maintain their strength thanks to the blood and tear fluid of animals.

Such is the vampire butterfly (lat. Calyptra).

Butterfly breeding stages. The transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly

Most butterflies have complex forms of courtship during mating season expressed in flights and dances. The mating process, during which the female receives from the male, in addition to spermatozoa, a supply of essential trace elements and proteins, sometimes drags on for several hours.

Caterpillar turns into a butterfly

The life cycle of a butterfly consists of 4 phases (stages):

• Eggs

The life of a butterfly begins with an egg. Depending on the species and generic affiliation Butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves or branches of plants. It can be up to 1000 fertilized eggs that are round, cylindrical or egg-shaped. The color of eggs can be white, greenish, yellow, red, sometimes with a pattern. This stage of the life of a butterfly lasts within 8-15 days.

butterfly eggs

• Caterpillar (larva)

At this stage, the insect has a worm-like shape. The mouthparts of caterpillars are of the gnawing type. A feature of the caterpillar is the presence of special glands in it, which produce a substance that quickly hardens on contact with air and forms a semblance of a strong silk thread. Butterfly caterpillars feed mainly on plant food: fruits, flowers and leaves of plants. However, there are caterpillars whose diet consists of wool, horny substances and even wax.

Caterpillar

• chrysalis

Depending on the species, the pupa may have an elongated cylindrical or even round shape. A monochromatic cocoon sometimes has a pattern formed by stripes, dots and spots. At this stage of development, the butterfly already has wings, proboscis and legs in its infancy.

• Imago (adult, butterfly)

Depending on the species, the lifespan of a butterfly can range from a few hours to 10 months. Imago is already capable of reproduction and dispersal, which are its main function.

What do butterflies do in winter?

It is noteworthy that butterflies winter in different ways. There are species of butterflies that, having left the chrysalis, live only during the summer, and die with the onset of cold weather. Some survive the winter as an egg, but most do so as a chrysalis. There are species that meet the cold already as adult insects and hide from them in tree hollows or deep cracks in the bark. These are urticaria, burdock and lemongrass.

Butterfly Lemongrass (buckthorn)

But there are also exceptions to the rule.

Some representatives of Lepidoptera prefer to leave their habitats without waiting for the onset adverse conditions. They just fly to warmer climes. The most famous "travelers" are the oleander hawk moth and the monarch.

The benefits and harms of butterflies

It is noteworthy that butterflies bring both great benefits and harm to Agriculture. In the caterpillar stage, they destroy the leaves on fruit trees leading to yield loss. At the same time, adult butterflies help cross pollination and self-pollination of plants. Both caterpillars and adults serve as food for many birds. And about the benefits silkworm and there is no need to say - this is the manufacturer natural silk.

• In the Saturnium butterfly, the caterpillar is so poisonous that the toxins it releases can kill a person.
• The migratory monarch butterfly is able to cover up to 1000 km in one flight without stopping to rest.
• Butterflies don't sleep at night because they don't need to sleep.
• During a flight over short distances, hawk moths can reach speeds of up to 60 km / h.
• The baby moth is the smallest butterfly with a wing size of 2 mm.
• Madagascar hawks have the longest proboscis, which is 28 cm long.
• The size of the wings of the butterfly Tisania agrippina reaches 31 cm.
• The sense of smell of the peacock-eye butterfly is very developed: it smells at a distance of 10 km.