The Winter Garden News, Tips, Stories and How-To Raising Butterflies Butterflies are probably the most admired insect on earth. Their bright colored wings and gentle movements add a sense of wonder and beauty to our yards and gardens. Unfortunately, with the growing destruction of natural habitats, these precious creatures are decreasing in numbers and some species are approaching extinction. We've written this bulletin in the hope that you'll be inspired to learn more about these amazing creatures and create a butterfly habitat for both you and your butterflies to enjoy. To do either, it's important to understand a little bit about butterflies and their life cycle.
All butterflies start life as an egg and then develop into caterpillars.
For some species, this whole process may take several weeks, while others like the Checkerspot caterpillar, may need to rest for the entire winter before they can pupate. Once a caterpillar is full-grown, it will molt into its final skin called a pupal case or chrysalis. It's in this special skin that the caterpillar transforms into an adult butterfly. New organs start to grow and old structures dissolve inside the pupal case until on a warm sunny day, the pupal skin splits open near the head and the new adult butterfly crawls out. Within hours, it will develop the strength to fly away.