Butterflies for Kids
The Butterfly Body
Printable Version Chapter Contents Off
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Start learning about butterflies by clicking on the numbers next to the different parts
of the butterfly below to see the description. You may also click the "next" link to go
through each of the butterflies parts in order.
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Top
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The Butterfly Body
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Top
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The Wing
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A butterfly has four wings (two forewings and two hindwings) that enable it to fly. The
top and the bottom of the wings are often colored differently. If you have a closer look at
the wings, they look dusty because they are covered with tiny scales. These scales are
colored and so they make up the butterfly's coloration.
(scanning electron microscope pictures of scales)
The scales and the whole surface of the body are covered with a wax layer that protects the
butterfly from water like a raincoat.
The parts of a wing are called base, cell and margin.
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Top
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Antenna
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Small sense organs for smelling are scattered over the surface of the antenna. Some
moths can "smell" a female a few miles away! The females send out a fragrance to attract
males in order to mate.
The antennae also help the butterfly's sense of balance.
(scanning electron microscope picture of a moth antenna)
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Proboscis
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The proboscis is a kind of "straw" for sucking nectar. When the butterfly is not using
the proboscis, it is rolled up. To use it the butterfly straightens it and puts it in the
blossom where the nectar is.
(scanning electron microscope picture of a proboscis)
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Legs
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Like all insects, a butterfly has six legs that are divided in several parts as you
can see in the picture above. The division indicates that butterflies belong to the
articulated animals (arthropods).
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Eye
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The eye is a combination of many single simple "eyes" so the butterfly sees everything
as a mass of tiny pictures. It can't see very clearly and does not see some of the colors we
see. But it sees ultra-violet patterns which are invisible for us.
Butterflies can look in
all directions and notice moving objects quite easily.
(scanning electron microscope picture of an eye surface)
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Thorax
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The Thorax is a kind of "center" of the butterfly body. The legs, wings, the head and
the abdomen are connected to it.
Several butterflies have a kind of ear on their Thorax (like the thympanic membrane in our
ears). These "ears" are important to hear the very high frequency sounds of bats. Bats are
dangerous predators for butterflies. When they hear sounds of a bat, butterflies start a
zigzag flight to escape.
If you touch an insect's body, it feels quite hard. This is because insects don't have bones
inside their body like you, their skeleton is only a hard case outside. But inside there is
nothing hard at all.
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Abdomen
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On the structured Abdomen you can see the holes for breathing. The sexual organs are
also located on the Abdomen.
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Feet
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Many butterflies and moths taste with their feet. So they know at once if the leaf they sit on is edible for their caterpillars or not. On the first pair of feet there is a kind of brush. This helps the butterfly to clean its antennae.
The feet also have claws to help the butterfly to hold on slippery surfaces.
(scanning electron microscope picture of a butterfly's foot)
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Intro
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Home
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From Egg to Butterfly
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