Just like humans, every animal and insect grows and grows until they have reached their adult life. One of the insects with a magnificent life cycle is the butterfly. The butterfly is a very complex insect, it starts out as a small egg, but grows into a beautiful adult butterfly with all different radiant colors.

In this book, you will learn about how a butterfly grows and what it’s life cycle is like.

The first stage of a butterfly is the egg. The eggs is usually round and oval in shape and are typically laid on leaves. If you look very closely, you can see a tiny caterpillar growing inside each and every one.

The next stage is the larva, or the caterpillar. During this stage, caterpillar’s eat and eat and eat until they are full. Although this is the shortest stage of their life cycle, it is one of the most important because it gives them the strength to grow. 

The third stage of a butterfly is the pupa, or chrysalis. As soon as a caterpillar is done growing from all of the eating, they form themselves into a pupa. From the outside of the pupa, it looks as if the caterpillar may just be resting, but the inside is where all of the action is happening.

The final stage of a butterfly’s life is when it becomes an adult butterfly, the best part! When the butterfly first comes out of the pupa, both of the wings are soft and folded against its body. After that, it pumps blood into it’s wings so it can fly away and meet new friends in the world!

Watch the video on the next page to see what it looks like when a butterfly grows for yourself!

Here are some questions to consider!

1. What stage is the shortest stage of a butterfly’s life cycle?

2. What is the second stage of a butterfly’s life cycle?

3. What comes after the larva stage?

4. How does a butterfly begin to fly?

Activities to do!

1. Draw your own butterfly life cycle and include every stage that you learned about!

2. Create a 3-D version of each stage using things around the classroom! Ask a friend to help if you get stuck!

Resources used in this book:

https://www.thebutterflysite.com/life-cycle.shtml