Brightly colored butterflies provide interest to your surroundings and are also effective crop and flower pollinators. Your butterfly garden will also attract birds and other wildlife. Before you begin your butterfly garden it is important to know something about butterflies and about their life cycles, biology, and behavior. Each stage has special food and environmental needs. The cycle begins when butterflies deposit eggs, which they may do in the spring, summer, or fall.
Eggs differ in size and shape depending on the species.
Butterflies can lay anywhere from 200 to 1,500 eggs depending on the species. Some are laid singly, some in clusters. A good nectar source is important to the adult's ability to produce large numbers of eggs. In most cases, eggs hatch within a few days of being deposited. Caterpillars emerge from eggs, usually eating the egg shell first, then eating vegetation, flowers, or fruit of the host plant.