IF ONLY THEY COULD TALK!

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly,

One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

~Hans Christian Anderson

I am sitting alone in a place of tranquility, gazing into the reflections of my past life, my dreams, my memories which mesmerized me; yes in some episodes of my life.

There is a pleasant breeze ,the weather is warm, garden is full of blossoms,fragrance and embeded with colourful flowers.

There is life … full of butterflies.

I ask myself, which is the most colorful - the flowers or the butterflies ?

Undoubtedly Butterflies ...

I try to chase a butterfly all around the field but can never catch and when I sit quietly on the grass she comes and sits on my shoulder.
I am surprised.
Is there any chemistry works?
Yes!
*Butterflies are in need of sodium and they get attracted to human sweat.

I have always wondered about these fascinating flying insects and it brings so much joy just looking at them. Every butterfly is different, a color pattern can’t be copied and, I learnt that Scientists have discovered a way of mimicking the bright and beautiful colours on the wings of butterflies, with applications in the security printing industry, to make Bank notes and credit cards harder to forge.

*Many people think that the wings of a butterfly get their color from pigments. That is not so. The color is created due to the light reflected on the transparent wing scales of the butterfly.

Butterflies are one of the most beautiful creatures that have inspired paintings and poetry.

I WANT TO SHARE SOME AMAZING FACTS AND INTERESTING INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUTTERFLY THIS WEEK.

*The term ‘Butterfly’ is derived from yellow brimstone butterfly of Europe, which is first seen in the ‘butter’ season (early spring). The original name of the butterfly was ‘flutterby’.

*There are essentially three categories of butterflies: True Butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea), Skippers (Superfamily Hesperioidea) and Moth-Butterflies (Superfamily Hedyloidea).

Worldwide there are about 28,000 species of butterflies.

It is an insect that belongs to the Lepidoptera order (means “scaly wings”). People who study butterflies are called Lepidopterists.

*Butterflies are known for their unusual life cycle that begins with the caterpillar stage, the pupal stage they harden into chrysalis. After a few weeks the adult butterfly will emerge from its chrysalis. They do not make cocoons but moths.

*These little creatures live mostly for 2 to 3 weeks and, after bees, butterflies are the second largest group of pollinators.

*Butterflies are cold blooded,can be found mostly anywhere in the world where it is not too hot nor too cold. Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.

*Butterflies prefer flowers that are pink, yellow, red, or purple and have single petals.

*In fact, their taste sensors are located right below their feet and they can taste food right by standing on it! Most butterflies usually get salt from the ground. we may see butterflies sucking salt at the edges of drying mud puddles. Scientists call this puddling.

*Some butterflies have "eyespots" on their wings, which look like real eyes. These are used to fool their predators . Birds, especially, may think twice about grabbing something that looks like an owl.

*Some experts say that butterflies do not sleep, they only rest. When they do rest (or take a butterfly nap) it is usually in a protected area such as a rock crevice, or often they will attach themselves to the underside of a leaf. Most butterflies sleep/rest alone, but there are also species sleeping in groups.

Some butterflies, like Monarchs, feed on a poisonous plant like Milkweed as caterpillars, so when they emerge as adults they have built in protection from some predators. Birds that eat Monarchs will get very sick, and learn quickly to leave the bright orange colored butterflies alone!

*Poisonous butterflies have a particular smell that probably protects them better when they sleep together. It is also useful not to change the group’s sleeping place because a predator who attacked a poisonous butterfly one time won’t do this again. There is only a limited number of predators in an area so there is only a limited number to "educate" if the sleeping place stays the same. One species from Costa Rica whose scientific name is Marpesia berania sleeps in groups on a leaf. If one butterfly of the group is disturbed, it opens its wings and touches its neighbors. Being touched, they open their wings as well and so the whole group is informed about the danger and can escape together.

*When butterflies mate, the male or female will perform courtship movements and release pheromones, the butterflies will turn abdomen to abdomen and then mate for an hour or more. Sometimes they will even fly around with either the male of female dangling. The male butterfly will pass the female a sperm packet that is used for fertilizing eggs.

Butterflies are fragile creatures and their population can thrive or be adversely affected with changes in the climatic conditions. Plenty of Butterflies indicate a healthy, well-balanced ecosystem, and a dearth of Butterflies can denote a possible environmental problem.

These amazing winged beauties are one of nature’s most wonderful creations! Aren't they?