People we don't die in every butterfly. How long do butterflies live: the lifespan of winged beauties. The most beautiful insects

Why is the Dog so devoted?
And is he boundless in his love?
But there is always a question in the eyes,
Does the owner love him?
Because someone flogged
Because the cage is in the past!
Because a person
He betrayed him often.
I'm wandering the streets
I look into people's faces,
I'm keeping an eye on everything now
So that, like the Dog, you don’t make mistakes.
***

I build mental bridges
Their measurements are simple,
I build them out of emptiness
To go where you are.
Covering the ground with bridges,
I never found you
I opened my eyes, and there... a cliff,
My journey is over, I have arrived.

The evening is not forever. It will fly by like a New Year's moment,
The snow, having looked for it, will come off without leaving a trace.
I know that I love you very much, that I love you very much - today,
Tomorrow, perhaps, will never exist.

His sarcasm is sharper than a pin. -
Having seriously frightened the victims,
It hits right on target. And even mongrels
They bark helplessly: “Gaft-gaft-gaft!”

Through pain, risk, effort
The cocoon made its way to the light,
To silken wings
They amazed our eyes.
…
Frozen in the nectar mixture,
Like a circus performer on a tightrope,
Maintain balance
Wings of a velvet dress.
…
Life is one day long
Incomparable with our century,
Sit on a forget-me-not
Impossible for humans.
…
So, fluttering alone,
Kissing flower petals,
She is for every flower
It will transmit living pollen.
…
When the caterpillar is in a cocoon
It will transform slowly
From under the thread fibers
Her soul will be released.
…
Illuminating the past life,
It will fly under the sky.
People, we are not dying,
A butterfly lives in everyone.

Everyone knows Life
Theater. This slave, that one
Emperor, Who is the wise man,
who is an idiot is silent, and who is an orator. Honest or
provocateur Roles for people
God gives. We are everything to him
toys, Arranges us from heaven Alexander Sergeich
Pushkin, And opposite Georges
Dantes!

The world is full of sounds!
The sounds are all of us!
and only God
walks quietly between us.

There are fewer and fewer living people in the phone book,
The death scythe rings in my ears,
The coffin lids are knocking more and more often,
Alien voices answer.
But I won’t erase these numbers
And I will never put a frame around it.
I will find everyone, I will call them all,
Wherever they are, in heaven or hell.
While they were chattering and living carelessly -
The day-night turns ended.
Now about what was left unsaid,
They sound like dots and beeps.

"Oh, if only she were alive,
I would give anything for her, I would give up everything.”
Words, words, words, words, words.
We all pronounce them after death.
And poems are written in repentance,
But deep down they will be with us forever
Sins, sins, sins, sins, sins,
Which cannot be redeemed with words.

Me and you, are there just two of us?
Oh, what self-deception.
With us are walls, sconces, wallpaper,
Night, champagne, sofa.
There is silence in the apartment with us
And there are drops outside the windows,
Everything in this world is with us
Sank down onto the bed.
We are just points of the universe,
Someone's fine carving
Our rise and fall
It's called fate.
We breathe into each other's faces,
The clock strikes at midnight,
And there is someone above us
Everything was decided for us a long time ago.

There is no escape from the thoughts.
Drink or sleep, watch or read,
More and more often I remember my childhood
Marshmallow-chocolate heaven.
Father's belt whistled over his ear with a buckle,
Mother drowned out the stormy ocean,
White lambs with boiling eyes,
And the hurricane melted on my nerves.
My father went through the war, he was a military man,
One of the family left alive.
I secretly carried bread to German prisoners,
Accidentally loving your enemies.
Sucked games and X's
We solved endless puzzles at school,
My forelock on my forehead and two thug fixes
Were a solved facial formula.
I skipped school at the stadiums,
Walking in a cast-iron crowd for a breakthrough,
I remember every goal miss,
Forgetting all other mistakes.
I walk, as before, along the long alley,
The boy is sitting, he will start everything again,
Clutching a penknife in his hand,
On the bench he is cutting something about love.

What color is the dirt? - Anyone.
The floor can be dirty even the word
Idea, hands, area, tires,
Dirt is an extra touch, and there is no picture.
Dirt in an eternal dispute with purity,
And your spirit, stinking and thick,
Its stench, disgrace
Dirt calls simplicity.
And leads purity to execution,
Dirt is the simplicity of murderers and executioners.
In the ornament of folklore
There is in the deceitful simplicity of her speeches
The death tone of the sentence.
Dirt - simplicity is worse than theft.
Because of people like us who are in love with her,
The silence of the blind majority
It ended with a terrible howl from the prisoners.
And so simple is holy simplicity,
What, the saints forgot to put on a mask,
Openly, brazenly, foaming at the mouth
Starts dirty brawls.
The dangerous line is already close,
Empty souls distort their faces.

Oh, eternal earthly Simplicity,
Oh, eternal earthly Purity,
Savior of the world - Beauty,
Come quickly, I want to have time to wash myself off.

Beautiful, weightless, bewitching - these epithets are addressed to butterflies. But how many can please with charm and grace amazing creatures? It is generally accepted that their lifespan is short. However, this opinion cannot be called fair.

How to determine the lifespan of winged beauties

How long do “flying flowers” ​​live? Life cycle consists of all phases of insect development:

• egg;
• caterpillar;
• chrysalis;
• adult, imago.

When determining the life span of a butterfly, scientists take into account the duration of each stage. Therefore, the time frame is much longer than several days. It is not surprising: the future butterfly spends most of its existence in some stages.

When determining the duration life cycle Vanessa's views take into account that the insect spends 4 days in the egg phase, in the caterpillar stage - up to a decade, depending on the amount of accumulated fat for transformation into a moth. In the form of a pupa, the future butterfly will live for about a week, and then - apotheosis, transformation into the ideal of grace and beauty.

However, the adult will remain charmed with light wings for about two weeks, no more. And during this period she must have time to lay eggs. Probably for this reason, nature allowed female butterflies to live several days longer than males.

Life cycle components

Lifespan of a moth depends on many factors. The duration is affected by:

• climatic conditions;
• species affiliation;
• coloring

The lifespan of butterflies largely depends on the climate. Most of the species live in tropical and subtropical conditions: capricious beauties love warmth and light. But geographic latitude directly determines the lifespan of an insect.

How long will the insect live? Inhabitants northern latitudes can live up to two years. Feed in enough harsh conditions little, the larva does not have time to accumulate useful material to move to the next stage. The pupa will not be able to become a butterfly next spring. Thanks to “preservation”, the life of the future winged beauty is extended by a whole year!

Affect the lifespan of butterflies and insect migrations. A year of wonderful creations make 2 flights, from late spring to early autumn. During this time, 2 generations of adults will change. The pupae will “open” at the end of summer or early spring.

Northern butterflies are stronger than southern ones!

Northern insects have only one migration. And they will live for about a year. And wintering insects will spend the longest period of their lives in the pupal stage. The individual leaves the protective cocoon only with the onset of real warmth, having prepared for the cold from the beginning of autumn.

The species to which the moth belongs also plays a significant role. How long does an insect live? Some species live no more than a few hours. And the period is calculated from the laying of eggs until the transformation into an adult. It is wrong to believe that all butterflies can live for several hours or days: on average, they delight people with beauty for several weeks. True, there are also long-livers.

These include the inhabitants of northern latitudes. Insects have an amazing feature. They fall into suspended animation. In this state, metabolic processes slow down and energy is not spent on maintaining life. Butterflies are resistant even to the treatment of plants with pesticides at this time!

Long-lived among the “flying flowers”

Record holders among winged beauties- insects of the Monarch species. Adults can live up to a year, setting a real record among lepidoptera.

Cabbage plants flutter through the air for about a month. Some of the lemongrass specimens manage to live for several years, withstanding even temperatures below 20 degrees below zero! And blueberry butterflies enjoy life for several days. They were given the shortest possible sentence.

At home, the winged beauty will live longer than in nature. But how much effort will have to be made for this!

Temperature and wintering time also affect the butterfly's lifespan. Severe cold can destroy delicate creatures, and in the warmth of a human home or during a thaw, a moth released from a state of suspended animation can die from exhaustion.

Victims of beauty?

It is known that during its life the graceful beauty goes through several stages, turning from a larva into a caterpillar; a butterfly is the final phase of development. If the insect has not had time to accumulate nutrients for the next stage, it lives longer. The lifetime increases to several years!

Due to the variety of colors, the wonderful “flying flowers” ​​have no rivals in the world of insects. There are amazing specimens. Among them are a transparent butterfly, recognized as a real miracle of nature, and tropical beauties shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, among which there are real giants with a wingspan of up to 28 cm.

But it is the coloring that causes the shortening of the lifespan: collectors are willing to pay a lot of money to decorate their collections with the desired specimens.

"Domestic" butterflies

Natural enemies also prevent beautiful insects from living longer. Therefore, in artificial conditions, butterflies live longer due to the disappearance of danger.

If you wish, you can increase the lifespan of a butterfly. To do this, it is necessary to create conditions for the insect that are as close as possible to the natural conditions experienced by an adult. You will need:

• warm, and for some tropical species the temperature will have to be maintained at least 28 degrees;
• sufficient lighting;
• nutrition.

Placing plants in an apartment so that butterflies feed on nectar, as in nature, is quite problematic. But you can replace your usual diet honey water.

If all conditions are met, the butterfly will bring pleasant moments. She will leave descendants in gratitude for the care, who generation after generation will live, fluttering around the apartment and leaving a feeling of summer and joy.

A butterfly is a bright and beautiful insect with large multi-colored wings that flutters from flower to flower all summer, helping with pollination. But where does the butterfly live, where does it sleep, what does it eat, how does it spend winter months, - the answers to these questions will be of interest to every inquisitive person.

Butterfly world

Representatives of the order Lepidoptera, which includes butterflies according to the biological hierarchy, can be found on almost all continents and in any climate, except the coldest - Antarctica. They love to fly in flowering meadows in mid-latitudes and among the ice of Greenland, on the islands Pacific Ocean and in the highlands of the Himalayas.

Butterflies belong to the most numerous and ancient order, which has more than 158 thousand species. Lepidoptera are cold-blooded (ectothermic) insects that can regulate their own body temperature by taking heat from the outside or releasing it into environment. Because of this, most of their species prefer to live in tropical climates.

A butterfly is called an insect with complete transformation, i.e. its development goes through all stages: eggs, larvae or caterpillars to pupa and adult (imago). Also for most Lepidoptera characteristic feature body structure is the presence of a mouthparts with a proboscis through which they drink nectar. They also have a wide variety of wing shapes and sizes: from 2 mm to 28 cm.

Where the butterfly lives, what it eats and its lifespan most often depend on the climate zone: these insects prefer hot and humid natural climate, that is, the tropics. The greatest diversity of species lives in forests South America(40 thousand), in Southern and South-East Asia(more than 10 thousand), where there are ideal conditions in terms of quantity sunny days, high humidity and the possibility of camouflage among dense foliage.

Appearance of butterflies, where they live and what they eat

Among invertebrates, butterflies have the most complex body structure and the most beautiful appearance. The insect's body consists of an abdomen, chest, head with antennae and proboscis, 3 pairs of legs and two pairs of beautiful wings, which contain all the beauty of nature, various patterns and colors.

The butterfly has a total of 4 wings, each of which is covered with scales ranging from 100 thousand to 1 million in larger tropical species. They are: pigment (containing a bright coloring matter) and optical (reflecting and refracting light).

Butterflies feed exclusively on liquids that they can drink through their proboscis: flower nectar, tree sap, pollen, dung and rotting fruit. They can suck moisture from puddles or from leaves, and sometimes sit on a person in search of a drink, attracted by the smell of sweat, which contains salts and minerals necessary for their life.

Life expectancy also depends on where the butterfly lives, its type and size: smaller ones can live only a few days, and large insects living in the tropics can live up to several months. Representatives of middle latitudes live on average 3-4 weeks, and representatives of northern latitudes live up to 2 years.

Life cycle

The life cycle of lepidoptera begins with the laying of eggs by adult insects directly on the leaves or branches of plants, where the butterfly (or rather its egg) lives in the first stage of its development, which lasts 8-15 days. The color, number and shape of eggs depend on the species; there can be up to 1 thousand eggs in total, most of which do not survive to adulthood. Species of butterflies living in temperate climate, usually lay eggs in late autumn or early winter, and they remain dormant until spring.

The next stage, caterpillars, also takes place on the plants on which they feed. According to their lifestyle, they are divided into those who openly crawl over leaves and branches in search of food, and those that hide under special covers made independently using silky threads and parts of leaves. Some caterpillars are bright in color, demonstrating their inedibility, while others disguise themselves as green parts of plants.

The duration of the life cycle depends on the temperature and climate where butterflies live in nature: in northern species, caterpillars can fall into hibernation(diapause) until next spring, and their development cycle can last up to 7-10 years.

The most stationary stage - the pupa - looks like a cylinder light color, as it matures, the color changes to that which is typical this species. Pupae can either attach to leaves or lie on the ground without feeding for a long time.

An adult butterfly (imago) crawls out of the pupa, pushing off the shell with its paws, and males are born earlier than females. After emerging from the shell, its wings gradually straighten and harden, and a characteristic coloring also appears.

Where do butterflies spend the winter?

Most butterfly species live only through the summer, laying eggs for the next generation to emerge, and then the insects die. But among them there are also long-livers.

Where do butterflies live in winter and how do they hide from the cold? The answer depends on the species of Lepidoptera. Thus, some butterflies living in Russia (urticaria, lemongrass, burdock) hibernate for the winter, climbing into crevices or hollows of trees and wrapping themselves in their wings. Many climb closer to warm human habitation and fall asleep there.

But there are also migrant butterflies, which, like birds, gather in flocks numbering up to 1 million individuals and fly to warm temperatures in the fall. southern countries, sometimes located 1000 km from their homeland. Scientists have been struggling with the mystery of how these creatures find their way for decades. After all, having a more primitive nervous system, they are not able to navigate by the sun.

The origin of the word “butterfly” in Orthodox countries comes from the words “old woman” or “grandmother”, because Since ancient times, people have represented these insects as the souls of dead people. This belief still exists to this day in villages and villages in the Russian outback.

The most big butterfly- the South American tropical cutworm or tizania Agrippina, its wingspan is 28 cm, in Russia - the Maak's swallowtail (up to 13.5 cm). The smallest is the baby moth, living on Canary Islands, its dimensions barely reach 2-4 mm.

A butterfly, flying from flower to flower, can cover up to 10 km in 1 hour, thus moving to the place where it will lay eggs.

One of the most amazing butterflies— Greta amazes with her transparent wings, through which the entire surrounding world is visible.

The most beautiful insects

These amazing creatures, no matter where the butterflies live - in tropical forests or in the clearing in temperate latitudes, in the mountains or in the hot African desert, constantly fly between plants and flowers, collecting nectar and delighting people with their original beauty.

The butterfly belongs to the class insects, phylum arthropods, order Lepidoptera (Lepidoptera).

The Russian name “butterfly” comes from the Old Slavonic word “babъka”, which denoted the concept of “old woman” or “grandmother”. In the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, it was believed that these were the souls of the dead, so people treated them with respect.

Butterfly: description and photo. The structure and appearance of butterflies

The structure of the butterfly has two main sections: the body, protected by a hard chitinous shell, and the wings.

A butterfly is an insect whose body consists of:

• Head, inactively connected to the chest. The butterfly's head has a round shape with a slightly flattened occipital part. The round or oval convex eyes of the butterfly in the form of hemispheres, occupying most of the lateral surface of the head, have a complex facet structure. Butterflies have color vision and perceive moving objects better than stationary ones. In many species, additional simple parietal eyes are located behind the antennae. The structure of the oral apparatus depends on the species and can be of the sucking or gnawing type.

• Breasts with a three-segment structure. The front part is significantly smaller than the middle and back part, where three pairs of legs are located, which have a structure characteristic of insects. On the shins of the butterfly's front legs there are spurs designed to maintain the hygiene of the antennae.
• The abdomen has the shape of an elongated cylinder, consisting of ten ring-shaped segments with spiracles located on them.

Butterfly structure

The antennae of the butterfly are located on the border of the parietal and frontal parts of the head. They help butterflies navigate their surroundings by sensing air vibrations and various odors.

The length and structure of the antennae depend on the species.

Two pairs of butterfly wings, covered with flat scales of different shapes, have a membranous structure and are penetrated by transverse and longitudinal veins. The size of the hind wings can be the same as the front wings or significantly smaller than them. The pattern of butterfly wings varies from species to species and captivates with its beauty.

In macro photography, the scales on the wings of butterflies are very clearly visible - they can have completely different shapes and color.

Butterfly wings - macro photography

The appearance and color of the butterfly’s wings serve not only for intraspecific sexual recognition, but also act as protective camouflage, allowing it to blend into its surroundings. Therefore, colors can be either monochrome or variegated with a complex pattern.

The size of a butterfly, or better said, the wingspan of a butterfly, can range from 2 mm to 31 cm.

Classification and types of butterflies

The large order of Lepidoptera includes more than 158 thousand representatives. There are several classification systems for butterflies, quite complex and confusing, with constant changes occurring in them. The most successful scheme is considered to be one that divides this detachment into four suborders:

1) Primary toothed moths. These are small butterflies, the wingspan of which ranges from 4 to 15 mm, with a gnawing type mouthparts and antennae that reach a length of up to 75% of the size of the front wings. The family consists of 160 species of butterflies.

Typical representatives are:

• golden smallwing ( Micropteryx calthella);
• marigold smallwing ( Micropteryx calthella).

2) Proboscis butterflies. The wingspan of these insects, covered with dark small scales with cream or black spots, does not exceed 25 mm. Until 1967, they were classified as primary toothed moths, with which this family has much in common.

The most famous butterflies from this suborder:

• flour moth ( Asopia farinalis L.),
• moth fir cones (Dioryctrica abieteila).

3) Heterobathmyas, represented by one family Heterobathmiidae.

4) Proboscis butterflies, which make up the largest suborder, consisting of several dozen families, which include more than 150 thousand species of butterflies. Appearance and the sizes of representatives of this suborder are very diverse. Below are several families demonstrating the diversity of proboscis butterflies.

• Family Sailboats, represented by medium and large butterflies with a wingspan from 50 to 280 mm. The pattern on the wings of butterflies consists of black, red or blue spots various shapes, clearly visible on a white or yellow background. The most famous of them are:
  1. Swallowtail butterfly;
  2. Sailboat "Glory of Bhutan";
  3. Queen Alexandra's Birdwing and others.

Swallowtail butterfly

• Family Nymphalidae, characteristic feature which is the absence of thickened veins on wide angular wings with variegated colors and various patterns. The wingspan of butterflies varies from 50 to 130 mm. Representatives of this family are:
  1. Butterfly Admiral;
  2. Day peacock butterfly;
  3. Butterfly hives;
  4. Mourning butterfly, etc.

Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta)

Day peacock butterfly

Urticaria butterfly (Aglais urticae)

There are species of butterflies that do not have a mouthparts: to maintain life, they use up those reserves nutrients, which were accumulated in the caterpillar stage.

Such butterflies include the Madagascar comet, whose wingspan is 14-16 cm. The lifespan of this butterfly is 2-3 days.

There are also “vampires” among butterflies. For example, males of some cutworm species maintain their strength thanks to the blood and tear fluid of animals.

This is the vampire butterfly (lat. Calyptra).

Stages of butterfly reproduction. Transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly

Most butterflies have complex forms of courtship during mating season, expressed in flying and dancing. The mating process during which the female receives from the male a supply of sperm in addition to essential microelements and proteins, sometimes lasts for several hours.

Caterpillar turns into butterfly

The life cycle of a butterfly consists of 4 phases (stages):

• Eggs

The life of a butterfly begins with an egg. Depending on the species and tribal affiliation the butterfly lays eggs on leaves or branches of plants. This can be up to 1000 fertilized eggs that are round, cylindrical or egg-shaped. The color of the eggs can be white, greenish, yellow, red, sometimes with a pattern. This stage of the butterfly’s life lasts between 8-15 days.

Butterfly eggs

• Caterpillar (larva)

At this stage, the insect has a worm-like shape. Oral apparatus in caterpillars of the gnawing type. A special feature of the caterpillar is the presence of special glands that produce a substance that quickly hardens upon contact with air and forms something like a strong silk thread. Butterfly caterpillars feed mainly plant foods: fruits, flowers and leaves of plants. However, there are caterpillars whose diet consists of wool, horny substances and even wax.

Caterpillar

• Doll

Depending on the species, the pupa may have an elongated cylindrical or even round shape. A plain cocoon sometimes has a pattern formed by stripes, dots and spots. At this stage of development, the butterfly already has rudimentary wings, a proboscis and legs.

• Imago (adult, butterfly)

Depending on the species, the lifespan of a butterfly can range from several hours to 10 months. The adult is already capable of reproduction and dispersal, which are its main functions.

What do butterflies do in winter?

It is noteworthy that butterflies winter in different ways. There are species of butterflies that, having left the pupa, live only during the summer and die with the onset of cold weather. Some wait out the winter in the egg stage, but most of does this while being a doll. There are species that meet the cold as adult insects and hide from them in tree hollows or deep cracks in the bark. These are urticaria, burdock and lemongrass.

Lemongrass butterfly

But there are also exceptions to the rules.

Some representatives of lepidoptera prefer to leave their habitats without waiting for the onset of unfavorable conditions. They simply fly to warmer climes. The most famous "travelers" are oleander hawk moth and monarch.

The benefits and harms of butterflies

It is noteworthy that butterflies bring both great benefit and harm to Agriculture. In the caterpillar stage, they destroy leaves on fruit trees, which leads to crop loss. At the same time, adult butterflies help cross-pollinate and self-pollinate plants. Both caterpillars and adults serve as food for many birds. And about the benefits silkworm and there is no need to say - this is the manufacturer natural silk.

• The Saturnia butterfly's caterpillar is so poisonous that the toxins it produces can kill humans.
• The migratory monarch butterfly is capable of covering up to 1000 km in one flight without stopping to rest.
• Butterflies do not sleep at night because they do not need sleep.
• When flying over short distances, hawk moths can reach speeds of up to 60 km/h.
• The baby moth is the smallest butterfly with wings measuring 2 mm.
• Madagascar hawkmoths have the longest proboscis, which is 28 cm long.
• The size of the wings of the butterfly Tisania agrippina reaches 31 cm.
• The peacock butterfly's sense of smell is very developed: it can smell it at a distance of 10 km.