Residents of the Butterfly house

Written by Desire'e Redus, SciJourn Reporter |

Two different types of butterflies stopping to get a bite to eat.

Photographed at the Butterfly House in Saint Louis County: Two different types of butterflies stopping to get a bite to eat.

The butterflies with the orange-banded backs are male Orange Shoemakers. The way to identify a male Shoemaker is by the color stripes on their wings' backs. Females have both orange and white stripes, but males only have a bright orange stripe, as bright as a pumpkin.

Also stopping to get something to munch on is the Owl Butterfly. The Owl Butterfly originates from South Africa and many were brought over to the USA. From the size and pattern on the wings, this one is a male also.

The three butterflies are sharing an old banana peeling, Umm tasty.

According to Butterfly House entomologist Chris Hartley, “there are 80 different types of butterfly species inside the Butterfly House.” Moths are wrapped in silk before they undergo metamorphosis and the butterflies are wrapped in chrysalis. He explained that “butterflies live for only three to four weeks, they are only here to get nectar from flowers and lay eggs. They don’t really have a life.”

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Comments (2)

	Megan says: 2009-Oct-29 23:26
	Wow! That is really fascinating. I never knew that butterflies only lived for three to four weeks. I remember studing about them when I was younger, but I guess I forgot that fact. Thanks for the info! Reply 0 0 Report

	Desire'e says: 2010-Jun-28 10:19
	I had a really nice time learning more about the butterflies. Anything else that you can teach me about them that i do not know.? Reply 0 0 Report

Last Updated (Saturday, 20 March 2010 09:24)