Saturday, September 15, 2012

Butterflies

Butterflies are one of nature’s most beautiful and amazing creatures. butterflies are not only beautiful to look at but they are very interesting.  If you ever get a chance to see these beautiful insects in action, you should definitely take advantage of it and get some pictures. These butterflies are something else and they deserve to be admired.

The butterfly's most reputable characteristic is the fact that there is an incredible morphing process, during the life cycle of the butterfly. The butterfly starts life as a caterpillar, which cocoons itself in a silky thread. The caterpillar emerges from it's time in the pod, with colorful wings. The butterflies in the tropical rain forests of the southern hemisphere, can get to incredible sizes, with the wings of these butterflies displaying some of the brightest colors in the natural world.

It has been estimated that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 different species of butterfly in the world as more are constantly being discovered particularly in dense jungle regions that have little contact with humans. The different species of butterfly vary in size and colour as well as the differences in the bright patterns that are displayed on the wings of the butterfly. Butterflies are herbivorous animals as butterflies are known to only eat plant matter with a high sugar content. Butterflies fly between the flowers drinking the nectar through their long tongue which acts as a straw. Whilst doing this, the butterfly transfers pollen between the plants, meaning that the butterfly plays a vital role in the pollination of plants around the world.