Annual flowers with the letter p. Flowers with the letter "p"

The Monarch Butterfly is the longest living among its sisters and lives up to 6 months, while most Lepidoptera live only a week.

And despite its very short life, one butterfly can lay over 1,000 eggs.

Butterflies are very important in the ecosystem as pollinators, and today scientists have a base of almost 170,000 species on the planet. And it is constantly replenished.

Some butterflies can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h.

There is a special kind of night butterfly - Attacus Atlan, which has a wingspan of about 28 cm. This butterfly from the Peacock-eye family has an orange color with white spots.

The smallest butterfly is called Stigmella Kirisulosa, and its body length is no more than 2.5 mm.

In the Christian religion, the butterfly is a symbol of spiritual rebirth.

Butterflies can pretend to be dead to escape predators.

Some especially beautiful butterflies are listed as protected insects simply because of their charming appearance. Despite the fact that their population is very extensive and is not going to decrease.

The Egyptians were fascinated by these insects. In Thebes, scientists have found their images, which are more than 3,400 years old.

In one of the cities of the United States of America, there is a law that you can not torture butterflies. Punishment - $500 in cash.

The dream interpretation says that the butterfly symbolizes good luck and prophesies love and wealth.

Some butterflies live in very cold climates - for example, on Queen Elizabeth Island (750 km from the North Pole, Canada).

In Sweden there are special institutions where people cope with neurotic and psychological problems under the control of doctors with the help of butterflies. Here it is necessary to stay most of the day in fragrant greenhouses.

Butterflies don't have a heart or veins. Butterflies do not eat yet, but they drink. Basically, they exist on the energy reserves given at birth.

Some butterflies can live underwater. And others - squeak when danger arises.

The eye of a butterfly consists of 6000 parts, tiny lenses and has a very complex structure.

Of all the continents, there are no butterflies only in Antarctica.

A story about a butterfly for children will help prepare for the lesson and learn a lot of useful information.

Butterfly story for kids

Butterflies are one of the most beautiful insects, they look like fresh flowers, the quirkiness and brightness of the color of their wings is fabulous. For their beauty, people gave butterflies beautiful names: Swallowtail, Admiral, Apollo, Dawn, Lemongrass, etc. Butterflies fly during the day, and at night, raising their wings, they rest.

Butterflies are insects with complete transformation, since the larva (caterpillar) is completely different from the adult. Their life cycle consists of 4 stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa and adult insect.

Like all arthropods, the body of butterflies is divided into many segments and covered with a chitinous shell - the cuticle, and the legs consist of separate segments. Each butterfly has three pairs of such jointed legs.

Of all the representatives of insects, only butterflies have four large and bright wings with a magnificent graphic pattern. They have well-developed sense organs, but in many ways they perceive the world differently than humans.

The eyes occupy most of the head and consist of many facets, each of which is a miniature eye. Hearing is very well developed, they hear ultrasound and often suffer from it. The organs of smell reach fantastic acuity. The sense of taste is also well developed, they taste food with their paws and trunk, and the taste of sugar is recognized in solutions in the smallest concentrations. The organs of taste in terms of sweet are 2,000 times greater than those of a human being!

Among the butterflies, there are species whose caterpillars during the period of mass reproduction can devastate gardens and orchards or deleaf many hectares of forest. However, there are few butterflies that cause significant harm to humans.

Half of the list of insects listed in the Red Book are butterflies. They are suffering from habitat loss. Immoderate trapping and collecting is also the reason for their reduction.

What do butterflies eat?

Some butterflies feed on the nectar of flowers, others feed on the sap of trees and fermented juice of fruits, others do not mind eating animal droppings and tears, as well as mud to make up for the lack of mineral salts after mating.

Interesting fact! Where butterflies live, the air is ecologically clean, and where they are absent, there are many environmental issues in the environment

Butterflies are beautiful creatures. I think everyone knows what a butterfly looks like and probably met this terrible beast =)

These unique creatures are the second largest pollinators after bees.

The science that studies butterflies is called lepidopterology. An entomologist who studies butterflies is called a lepidopterologist (from the Latin name for the order of butterflies - Lepidoptera, which translates as "lepidoptera"). A lepidopterist is a person who is simply fond of butterflies.

The largest night butterfly in the world - This is the peacock-eye Atlas (Attacus Atlas). Its wingspan is over 30 cm and it is often mistaken for a bird.

Basically, most butterflies have a short life - only a few days. However, there are specimens with a rather long life cycle: the Brixton butterfly is a long-liver, its cycle lasts up to 10 months.

A female butterfly can lay over 1,000 eggs in her short life.

Butterflies literally work wonders. The species Parnassius arcticus lives in Siberia near the Arctic Circle. It flies to places where snow and ice never melt. Its close relative Parnassius bannyngtoni from the Himalayas is the highest mountain butterfly in the world. It can be found, rising even 6000 meters above sea level.

In the pigeon butterfly (Zizula hylax), which lives in Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Arabia and tropical zone Asia and Australia, the length of the forewing is 6 mm. This is the smallest butterfly in the world.

In addition to the tropical butterflies familiar to us, there are also arctic butterflies. They are inconspicuous in appearance, their wings are not bright, but whitish or almost transparent, as if glass. Several species of butterflies that live on the Canadian island of Queen Elizabeth, 750 kilometers from the North Pole, can be called real polar explorers.

Max Speed The speed this little creature can reach is 12 miles per hour, but there are species that go as high as 50 km/h (31 mph). The fastest flight of butterflies of the hawk family.

by the most amazing fact about these creatures is that butterflies need the warmth of the sun in order to fly.

The most common butterfly in Russia and Siberia is the Peacock eye. Due to its original pattern, it is difficult to confuse it with any other: the upper part of the wing has a cherry-brown color and a spot in the form of an eye, which is characteristic of this species, while the bottom is completely black-brown.

The life cycle of these creatures consists of four phases: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult (butterfly).

A butterfly lays its offspring in one place for many years in a row.

Butterflies never sleep.

The most complex organ of these amazing creatures is the eyes. They are made up of 6,000 tiny pieces called lenses.

Butterflies are ancient creatures. Their images are present on Egyptian frescoes, which are more than 2.5 thousand years old.

Butterflies are one of the most common collectibles.

In the world there is more than one species of these insects, which can rightfully be considered the rarest. One of them is Queen Alexandra's sailboat, the largest butterfly on the planet.

It is possible to find only on the territory of Papua New Guinea and thanks to collectors, this species is on the verge of extinction.

There are several species of these beautiful creatures that do not eat at all during the entire imago cycle (the last stage of life). Such individuals live due to the energy accumulated during the period when the butterfly was still a caterpillar.

The Blue Dwarf is considered to be the smallest butterfly in the world, with a wingspan of only 1.4 cm.

IN tropical forests There is a species of butterflies of the New and Old Worlds, the males of which feed on the tears of animals.

At the brazilian butterfly calligo another way to protect. Seeing a bird, it turns over, showing the enemy the wrong side of its wings.

The enemy has no choice but to retreat hastily.

It's all about the pattern on the wings. This is an image of an owl with a sharp beak and large eyes.

Well, the owl worst enemy birds.

Female butterflies generally live longer and longer than male butterflies. Something like people ;-)

Butterflies are great stress relievers. The doctors of Stockholm are convinced of this. The clinics of this city have greenhouses with butterflies and flowers, where patients successfully undergo treatment for stress.

Butterflies are nearsighted!

It turns out that the secret of the butterfly is hidden precisely in its scales on the wings. They maintain the temperature balance, and also increase the airworthiness.

But with blood circulation, everything is simple. No heart, no veins and no arteries. All this is replaced by a vessel located in the abdomen, passing into the head in the form of a tube.

The pattern on the wings of a butterfly is unique, just like human fingerprints.

Only the Dead Head hawk moth (Acherontia atropos) has a special “speech” organ located in the pharynx. This butterfly, with anxiety or a sense of danger, can squeak.

Butterflies weigh about as much as two rose petals.

Butterfly migration

Among African butterflies, Catopsilia florella makes the longest migrations. Every year from December to February, its representatives, inhabiting the arid regions of the Sahel, fly south in tens of millions. Destination - Zaire - a few thousand kilometers from the start.

Unlike migratory species of temperate latitudes, migration is caused not by the onset of spring, but by the beginning of the rainy season in the south: at this time, many flowers will bloom there, which will provide butterflies with food. They fly in whole clouds up to 20 long and up to 5 kilometers wide.

If such a flock descends to the ground, it is quite capable of turning off car engines! With the return of the dry season, the butterflies head back to the Sahel. Other populations of this species migrate in a similar way, but they fly out from southern Africa (Cape Province of South Africa) and head to the northwest.

Migratory behavior is uncommon in butterflies; it is known only in 200 out of 18,000 diurnal species, and only two dozen of them are comparable in extent and regularity of their flights to Catopsilia florella.

P.S. Interesting fact: During the winter in Southern California, tourists are shown butterfly trees covered with monarch butterflies resting after a long flight from North America. The branches of these trees sag under the weight of a huge number of butterflies! It is impossible to disturb the monarchs - an impressive fine is due for this.

Butterflies - amazing creatures living on our planet since the time when man did not yet appear on Earth. Over their centuries-old history, they conquered people with airiness, mystery, and beauty.

Butterfly Life Facts for Kids

Lepidopterology is the science that studies butterflies. Among the most interesting facts about the life of these Lepidoptera insects are the following:

• Some types of butterflies do not sit on food. They flutter around and stick to the delicacy with their proboscis. Therefore, large individuals look like small hummingbirds or are generally mistaken for a vision or an unearthly creature. Their taste sensors are on their feet, so in order to “taste” food, some varieties of these insects become legs on it.

• Butterflies are the second largest group of pollinators after bees. They fly from flower to flower, pollinate more than 1000 different plants a day.
• Butterfly breathing is peculiar. A complex tubular system and air sacs help supply oxygen to the cells of their small bodies. And air enters the bags through special spiracles on the stomach.
• Small organs are responsible for the sense of smell - antennas on the head of an insect. This is a very accurate organ that helps butterflies find food and a female for many kilometers.

• Butterflies are myopic and have a complex structure of vision. Their eyes consist of 6000 peepholes or lenses that do not distinguish all colors, but only some: red, green and yellow, as well as their shades.
• Butterflies have a complex circulatory system. They don't have a heart, veins or arteries. All functions are performed by a container located on the abdomen and connected to the head by a tube.
• During the breeding season, the female butterfly releases an attractate - a substance that attracts males. It is very small - no more than 0.0001 mg, but the male individual smells it and flies to his pair.

• The life cycle of butterflies consists of four stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa and adult.
• Butterflies have a real exoskeleton that protects their body from injury, and also maintains the necessary level of humidity.
• A female butterfly in her short life (sometimes not exceeding a few days) lays up to 1000 eggs. Their color, shape and size depends on the type of insect. Also, laying is carried out in close proximity to the food source, so that the hatched caterpillars do not know the lack of food.

• To fly, a butterfly needs dry and whole wings, as well as the warmth of the sun.
• During an earthquake, this insect will not be able to rise into the air.
• The scales on the wings of butterflies maintain the temperature balance, increase the flying abilities of the insect.
• Females of all butterfly species live slightly longer than males.
• Butterflies almost never sleep. And no wonder: the cycle of life is very short, and there is so much to do!

Food and habitats

It seems that all butterflies feed on the nectar of flowers, they live only in hot countries, but this is far from being the case. And here are some amazing facts:

• There are predatory butterflies that drink the blood of animals. To do this, they pierce the skin with their proboscis and suck blood. These are representatives of Calyptra eustrigata living in India and neighboring countries up to Malaysia. Males are mainly distinguished by predatory habits, and females eat the juice of various plants and fruits.

• Various patterns on the wings, all colors, shades, overflows are not a whim of mother nature, but an opportunity to defend themselves. Butterfly colors are an excellent disguise that helps these beautiful creatures hide from enemies and live their life cycle, leaving offspring. That is why the brightest butterflies live in a world of riot of colors - in tropical forests. And nondescript - in cold regions.

• Some butterflies don't eat at all. It is amazing. These butterflies don't even have a mouth. They gain energy and useful substances during the caterpillar period.
• Some butterflies eat very unsightly food. For example, the Red Admiral feeds exclusively on rotting fruit and even manure.

• Representatives of Lepidoptera were not found only in Antarctica. And so they are distributed throughout our planet.

Types of butterflies in Russia

- diurnal butterfly, which has a bright orange-black color with white spots. Lays its eggs on nettle leaves and breeds several times during the summer. Large enough, the life cycle is also large. Such butterflies can be found fluttering throughout Russia and neighboring countries in the middle latitudes.

- a beautiful rather big bright insect. Its life cycle is about three weeks. If the caterpillar is in danger, it can protect itself from enemies by releasing a pungent odor.

- the famous butterfly, flying a lot and quickly, having characteristic golden pollen on its wings. It feeds exclusively on the nectar of flowers and is not a pest.

- an amazing insect that delights those who meet it. Unfortunately, today you can see such a butterfly less and less. It is large in size, light in color with bright spots on the wings. Likes sunny places, lives in middle latitudes. With a sense of danger, Apollo tries to fly away, but does it clumsily. And then he begins to rub his paws on the wings, which makes a hissing sound that scares away enemies. It is also surprising that even the caterpillars of this butterfly are very beautiful - furry with a black and orange color.

- the insect distinguishes colors perfectly. Especially brightly, she sees red, which is not accessible to the sight of all butterflies. A doll with a butterfly is the most vulnerable time in the life of this insect. For the rest of its life, it feeds only on cabbage leaves, and lays eggs there. It is considered a pest butterfly among gardeners.

All of them can be found here. That is why most often in biology lessons, as well as in collections of collecting butterflies, you can find precisely these species, as well as many others that live in our latitudes.

Butterflies and traditions of different nations

In Chinese folk tradition Butterfly is considered a symbol of good luck, love, purity, happiness. That is why in this country, and now often in our country, it is customary to give two paper carvings for the holidays, as well as live butterflies at a wedding for young people or as an offering from the groom to the bride.

In the form of butterflies, various jewelry and bijouterie are made, elegant and timeless. In France, butterflies have been grown in winter gardens since time immemorial, and for the holidays they made surprises for guests in the form of live butterflies or whole salutes from these insects.

In the Christian tradition, a butterfly was depicted sitting on a baby's hand as a symbol of purity and divinity, the rebirth and resurrection of the soul. The butterfly has the same meaning in Buddhism. According to Indian legends, you can whisper your deepest desires to a butterfly and release it to the sky, and then they will definitely come true.

And in ancient England, these insects were considered, as in Ancient Rus', the souls of the dead, visiting relatives. And although everyone enjoys the beauty of butterflies, in the east it is a real delicacy. They are prepared and served in restaurants.

Record-breaking butterflies

Butterflies come in different sizes, colors and types. Their food and life is different from each other, as are other preferences. Here are the butterflies that have broken all records:

• The smallest butterfly has a wingspan of less than 2 mm. This is a species of moth Johanssoniella acetosae living in Europe.

• The largest butterfly is Tisania agrippina with a wingspan of 31 cm. Sometimes this butterfly is mistaken for a bird.
• And the largest diurnal butterfly is Queen Alexandra's Birdwing. It has almost the same wingspan - 28 cm, and weight 25 g.

• One of the largest and most unusual butterflies in its structure is the Peacock-eyed Atlas. Its front wings are curved and resemble the head of a snake. So she scares off enemies and calmly leads a daytime lifestyle.
• Also one of the most unusual appearance considered a Greta Morgane butterfly. Her wings are like transparent glass with a bright brown or green rim.

• The most common butterfly in the world is Vanessa Cardi. It belongs to the Nymphalidae family.
• The most common in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bresidence are burdocks, which can be found all over the world, except for Antarctica and South America.

• The fastest flying and hardy - Hawk Moths. Their speed reaches 60 km/h.
• Also, this species of Lepidoptera has the longest proboscis. Madagascar hawks have this organ up to 28 cm long.
• Moth hawks, due to their characteristics and speed, are considered the best pollinators among Lepidoptera, because in 3 minutes they process 100 flowers.

• The heaviest butterfly in the world, Endoxyla cinereus, belongs to woodworms. The record copy weighed 30 g.

• Not all butterflies are silent, as we used to think. The loudest of the "dead head" butterflies is Acherontia atropos. It squeaks when danger approaches, and the caterpillars of these Lepidoptera make a strong crackling sound.
• The loudest wing noise is from the South American Hamadryas feronia.

• The most subtly sensitive to various smells are Peacock-eyed moths. So, the male of this species catches the smell of the female 11 km away from her.

• The most beautiful butterfly in the world is the Urania butterfly, which lives in Madagascar. It was considered as such by the International Scientific Congress. This is really a very bright butterfly with beautiful color tints from black to red, yellow and pink.

• Admirals butterflies are considered the biggest travelers among Lepidoptera, migrating in flocks from Yaroslavl to Africa and back. They travel thousands of miles along the way.

• The highest mountain butterfly belongs to the genus Parnasius. It lives in the Himalayas above 6000 m above sea level.

• The most frost-resistant butterfly lives on Queen Elizabeth Island, which is almost 750 km from the North Pole.

• And another record. On the occasion of Kim Il Sung's 80th birthday, a magnificent painting composed of 4.5 million butterfly wings was donated. It's called The Selfless Faith of a Soldier.
• The longest living butterfly on the planet is the Brixton butterfly. If other species can live from 1-2 days to several weeks, then this is a real centenarian. Its life cycle reaches 10 months.

Vladimir Nabokov collected butterflies

As you can see, butterflies inhabit our world, make it beautiful and airy, give inspiration to poets and writers. One of them is a well-known Russian author, who painted these amazingly beautiful insects along the edges of his manuscripts. They are all so different and unique. And even short term life does not detract from their greatness.

You can meet butterflies in any part of the world, except for the coldest ones. And the brightest and largest settle in tropical countries, where it is warm and important. And although more than 165,000 species of Lepidoptera have already been discovered and studied, their secrets and secrets are not fully known. Every year, scientists discover new hitherto unknown species.

Since time immemorial, butterflies have been associated with spring, beauty, and eternity. They were a symbol of immortality, happiness, fidelity, love, and some newlyweds in modern times release butterflies at a wedding instead of doves. These mysterious and undeniably beautiful creatures are a source of poetic inspiration and have become the heroes of many myths and legends.

1. Butterflies belong to one of the largest groups of insects - Lepidoptera. In addition to these creatures, this group also includes moths and moths. On this moment Lepidoptera have about 157,000 species of insects.
2. These unique creatures are the second largest pollinators after bees.


3. The science that studies butterflies is called lepidopterology.
4. The largest night butterfly is Attacus aitas. Its wingspan is about 30 cm and it is often confused with a bird.




5. The most hardy butterfly in the world has the name "Monarch". She can cover a distance of a thousand kilometers without stopping.


6. The maximum speed that this little creature can reach is 12 miles per hour, but there are species that reach the mark of 50 km / h (31 miles per hour).
7. The most amazing fact about these creatures is that butterflies need the warmth of the sun in order to fly.
8. 4 butterfly wings are covered with scales, which are pouches with transparent ribbed walls. After a careless touch, they fall off, and the wings look faded. In fact, butterfly wings are transparent. The scales that cover the wing simply reflect sunlight and thus give themselves color. In the rarest cases, scales in a butterfly are present in very small quantities or are completely absent.






9. The life cycle of these creatures consists of four phases: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult (butterfly).
The eggs may have various forms: from spherical and round to cylindrical and angular. It depends on the type of butterfly.
10. An interesting fact: a butterfly lays its offspring in one place for many years in a row.
11. Butterflies never sleep.
12. In some Asian and South American countries, butterflies are considered a delicacy!


13. The most complex organ of these amazing creatures is the eyes. They are made up of 6,000 tiny pieces called lenses.
14. The only continent where Lepidoptera do not live is Antarctica.
15. Butterflies are ancient creatures. Their images are present on Egyptian frescoes, which are more than 3.5 thousand years old.


16. Taste buds in butterflies are on the paws, i.e. standing on the plant, they can taste it.
17. Butterflies are one of the most common collectibles among famous people world, such as: Nabokov, Rothschild, Bulgakov, Mavrodi.




18. The period in which the butterfly lays eggs lasts only a few days, but one individual can lay more than a thousand eggs.
19. Basically, all caterpillars live on land, but there is also a species of water caterpillars called broad-winged moths.


20. Basically, most butterflies have a short life - only a few days. However, there are specimens with a rather long life cycle: the Brixton butterfly is a long-liver, its cycle lasts up to 10 months.
21. There is more than one species of these insects in the world, which can rightfully be considered the rarest. One of them is Queen Alexandra's sailboat, the largest butterfly on the planet. It is possible to find it only on the territory of Papua New Guinea and thanks to collectors, this species is on the verge of complete extinction.


22. Many butterflies have earned a place in the Red Book only because of their incredibly beautiful color, and some of these creatures are pests for crops.
23. There are several species of these beautiful creatures that do not eat at all during the entire imago cycle (the last stage of life). Such individuals live due to the energy accumulated during the period when the butterfly was still a caterpillar.

24. In Russian, the word "butterfly" is derived from the word "woman", as our ancestors believed that all witches become butterflies after death.
25. The smallest butterfly in the world is considered to be the Blue Dwarf, whose wingspan is only 1.4 cm.

26. In the tropical forests of the New and Old Worlds, there is a species of butterflies whose males feed on the tears of animals.
27. Butterflies are myopic!
28. These creatures can even distinguish colors, however, not all of them. Each species sees some of its shades. So, for example, cabbage sees red, but satire does not distinguish it at all.






29. Peru and one Indian state, Sikkim, are considered the richest in the diversity of Lepidoptera species.
30. It turns out that the secret of a butterfly is hidden precisely in its scales on the wings. They maintain the temperature balance, and also increase the airworthiness.


31. Butterfly proboscis is a modified lower jaw, which is transformed into a sucking organ. But the butterfly caterpillar has rather strong jaws, thanks to which it can chew solid food.
32. The most common butterfly in Russia and Siberia is the Peacock eye. Due to its original pattern, it is difficult to confuse it with any other: the upper part of the wing has a cherry-brown color and a spot in the form of an eye, which is characteristic of this species, while the bottom is completely black-brown.




33. Butterflies are twilight creatures. Only some members of this group of insects are diurnal. Butterflies feed on nectar and other plant secretions containing sugar.
These creatures of incredible beauty at all times amaze people with their incredible variety of colors, bizarre shapes and intricate patterns. Butterflies are born in order to die, giving life to a new generation before that.
Egg laying and hatched caterpillars.