{"id":9625,"date":"2020-09-29T21:13:52","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T01:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/?page_id=9625"},"modified":"2025-02-10T10:42:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T15:42:34","slug":"butterfly-show-ask-an-expert","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/annual-butterfly-show\/butterfly-show-ask-an-expert\/","title":{"rendered":"Butterfly Show: Ask an Expert"},"content":{"rendered":"

You asked – our experts answered. Follow us @cubutterflies<\/a> on Instagram for more butterfly facts!<\/p>\n

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Do butterflies make sounds?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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Many butterflies have ears that they probably use to detect the sounds of approaching predators, but very few butterflies actually make sounds. One good example of a sound producing butterfly is the Hamadryas butterfly, sometimes called the \u2018cracker\u2019. It has little sound producing organs on its front wings that make cracklings sounds. They make these sounds when approached by a predator, perhaps using it as a warning sound. Sometimes they also use these sound during mating interactions, in which case they would be communicating. – Dr. Jayne Yack<\/a><\/p>\n

Additionally, caterpillars can make sounds. Check out some of the videos from Dr. Yack’s research lab here which show caterpillars making their sounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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Why are the butterflies so seemingly random in their flight patterns? Not straight from A-B?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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I understand the answer to be two reasons.\u00a0 First, the seemingly \u2018random\u2019 flight pattern serves to make butterflies more challenging to catch on the wing by avian predators (and human butterfly enthusiasts).\u00a0 Second, from an aerodynamics perspective, butterflies are insects that don\u2019t possess much mass and their large wings produce lots of lift and make them susceptible to wind gusts and the like.\u00a0 Perhaps the term \u2018random\u2019 is misleading because if their flight path was truly random they would not be very effective at arriving at their destination! – Dr. Jeff Dawson<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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What\u2019s the difference between a cocoon and a chrysalis?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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All insects that have complete metamorphosis\u2014butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, bees and wasps\u2014go through a stage called the \u201cpupa\u201d (plural: \u201cpupae\u201d, pronounced \u201cpew-pee\u201d), in which their body plan is completely reorganized. In butterflies, the pupa has a special name: the \u201cchrysalis\u201d. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word chrysalis comes from the Greek chr\u0233s\u00f3s<\/em>, meaning gold, referring to the metallic sheen of some butterfly pupae. Also according Merriam-Webster, the term chrysalis can be used for moth pupae, although this is uncommon in practice.<\/p>\n

In many moth species, but not in butterflies, the larvae form a \u201ccocoon\u201d around themselves just before they pupate. The cocoon is made of silk, which the larvae produce in glands in the mouth. The silk we use for clothing comes from the beautiful pure white silk of the domestic silk moth (shown below). Caterpillars of many species incorporate leaves or soil into their cocoons. The cocoon hides the pupa (see the well camouflaged luna moth cocoon, below) and protects it from predators and parasitoids. Still, almost every moth species has some specialized natural enemy that has evolved the capacity to find and attack the pupa despite the presence of a cocoon. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n

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Why do butterflies have colourful wings?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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They have colorful wings to warn predators that they are poisonous and to attract a mate. – Greenhouse Manager, Ed Bruggink<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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Why do butterflies fly?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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Butterflies fly to find mates and female butterflies fly to find plants that their caterpillars can feed on. They also fly to avoid being eaten by predators, such as birds. Flying takes energy, so they also fly from flower to flower to get more “fuel” to power their flight.<\/p>\n

Butterflies are beautiful, but their close relatives, the moths, have much more diverse and interesting lifestyles. All butterflies can fly, but the females of some moth species have lost their ability to fly and some even have little bitty wings that are useless! Instead of putting their energy into growing wings and flight muscles, they make thousands of eggs. They have traded the ability to fly to be super-moms. This only works if their offspring’s food plants are easy to find, like big trees.<\/p>\n

Butterfly caterpillars often feed on host plants that are too small to support more than a couple of caterpillars and that are hard to find and scattered throughout the landscape. Butterfly females need to be strong fliers to find those plants and make sure they lay all their eggs during their 2-3 week adult lifespan. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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How do you not scare the butterflies when you bring them here?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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The butterflies in Carleton\u2019s Butterfly Show come to Canada while they are in the pupae phase of their lifecycle. This is a resting stage where they are transforming into butterflies. Once they arrive to Carleton, the pupae are put in the nursery where they emerge as butterflies before being moved into the greenhouse. Check out this video to see our Greenhouse Manager, Ed Bruggink, unpack a shipment of pupae received for the show: https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/annual-butterfly-show\/who\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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How do butterflies evolve from the cocoon?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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This is a good question, because it is so hard to imagine how a butterfly that is all cramped and folded in its chrysalis manages to emerge. First of all, though, let’s make sure we’re using the right words since vocabulary is very important in science. When insects change from their larval form (for example, a caterpillar) to the adult form (for example, a butterfly) they form a “pupa”. In butterflies, we use a special word: “chrysalis”. For moths, it’s just “pupa”. Many moths go an extra step and cover their pupa with a cocoon. The cocoon can be made of just silk, produced by glands in the caterpillar’s mouth, or the silk can be used to tie leaves or chunks of soil together. Butterflies do not make cocoons for this extra layer of protection.<\/p>\n

There are two words we use for describing an adult insect coming out of the pupa: “emergence” and “eclosion” (French for “hatching”). If you use the word “eclosion”, everyone will know you are a real “entomologist” (a scientist who studies insects). The term “evolution” is best left for things like birds evolving from a type of dinosaur.<\/p>\n

Getting back to the chrysalis, when the butterfly is ready to eclose, the outer skin starts to soften and the butterfly flexes its muscles to make the skin split, so that it can get its legs out. Then it pulls the rest of the body out. At this point, the wings are all crumpled, and the body is short and plump. The butterfly pumps fluid into the wing veins, which helps them to expand. Once the wings are dried and hardened, excess fluid, called “meconium” is excreted. This “butterfly poop” is usually a very bright yellow, orange, pink or red. The butterfly has one more task before it flies: it needs to assemble its proboscis, the long, coiled straw it uses to feed on nectar. When a butterfly first emerges, its proboscis is split into two coils. After repeatedly coiling and uncoiling the proboscis, the two halves eventually zip together. Once it has working mouthparts and dry wings, and has pooped out the meconium, it is ready to fly. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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Why do caterpillars eat leaves, then go into a chrysalis, then grow wings and then become a butterfly?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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That’s a very good question, but one that is complicated to answer. All of these things–caterpillars eating leaves, the formation of the chrysalis and the emergence of the winged adult butterfly–have evolved over millions of years because those characteristics made the individuals that have them very successful.<\/p>\n

Take eating leaves, for example. Leaves are not particularly nutritious if that’s all you eat. They are tough, they contain very little protein and they sometimes contain nasty chemicals. However, the first insects that were able to survive off a diet of just leaves had this food almost entirely to themselves, and they became quite successful. Over millions of years, they evolved into the hundreds of thousands of species of butterflies, moths and beetles that we know today.<\/p>\n

The butterfly and moth life cycle–egg, caterpillar, pupa (chrysalis), winged adult–is also a strategy that is very successful. Caterpillars concentrate on feeding and growing. The simple caterpillar shape (sort of pool-noodle shaped) is the most efficient shape for growing fast and molting several times to get bigger. The winged adult is the most efficient form for finding a mate and, for the females, for searching for host plants to lay eggs on. These things together make the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) hugely successful, and have led to the amazing diversity of species that we see today. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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What do caterpillars eat?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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Almost all caterpillars feed on plants and most plant-feeding caterpillars feed on leaves, which are the most abundant and accessible part of the plant. However, there are some that burrow into stems, and others, called leaf-miners, that live between the top and bottom membranes of a leaf (the adults of these caterpillars are very tiny moths). A few caterpillar species prefer to eat flower petals, and there’s even one that decorates itself with the petals for camouflage (see the below photos).<\/p>\n

Even more bizarre are the caterpillars that eat meat. Yes, that’s right: some caterpillars are carnivores! Here is a link to a video of a Hawaiian inchworm caterpillar catching and eating a fly!\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zAiMzeOfOgA<\/a><\/p>\n

And in case you think that sort of thing can only happen in exotic, tropical places like Hawaii, here’s a local example of a carnivorous caterpillar. The caterpillar of the harvester butterfly lives among wooly aphids on alder trees, uses their “wool” (which is actually made of wax) for a disguise, and eats them! Harvester butterflies can be seen in Ottawa in the Mer Bleue sector of the Greenbelt.\u00a0https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/harvester-butterfly\/<\/a> – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n

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Do butterflies use a nest?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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Butterflies do not have a nest in the sense that birds have a nest, where the parents sit on the eggs until they hatch and then take care of the babies. Butterfly mothers carefully choose a plant for their caterpillars to eat, but they do not stick around to take care of their offspring.<\/p>\n

However, some caterpillars do<\/u> live in a sort of nest. It is a tent that they make themselves, by tying leaves together with silk, which they produce from glands in their mouth. It takes many caterpillars working together to build the nest, so this behaviour is only seen in some butterfly species where the mother lays large batches of eggs on a single plant. The tent protects the caterpillars from predators. In Ottawa, Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars make a tent on their food plant, white turtlehead. (The picture was taken along a trail in the Greenbelt.) – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n

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How long is the average Butterfly life?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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This question is actually more complicated than it might sound at first. Strictly speaking, an individual butterfly’s life also includes its time in the egg, caterpillar and pupal (chrysalis) stages, not just the adult stage. For species with one generation per year that are dormant in the cold months, that would mean that a single individual can live for a year.<\/p>\n

If you are thinking of just the adult stage, the lifespan can vary enormously, even in the same species. For any species that has two generations per year and overwinters as an adult, the overwintering adults live for 10-11 months, while the “summer” generation adults may live for only 2-3 weeks. The mourning cloak (photo below) is a good example of a butterfly species that has two generations in parts of its range and overwinters as an adult.<\/p>\n

Then there is the issue of how long they can<\/u> live (for example, in the lab, with appropriate temperatures and abundant food) versus how long they actually do<\/u> live in nature, where they are subject to inclement weather and predators. I can pamper an old butterfly and keep it going for a month in the lab, whereas it might have lived only a week or two in the wild. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n

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Take a closer look at the Butterfly Life Stages described in the Butterfly Educational Posters on our Learning at Home<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

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What is the smallest butterfly?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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Here is the smallest butterfly in the world. I saw it last spring at the Burnt Lands Alvar Provincial Park. The strawberry flower it is sitting on is pretty close to the size of a dime.\u00a0All of the butterflies in the family Lycaenidae (Blues, Coppers and Hairstreaks) are pretty small. The smallest on record is the Western Pygmy Blue. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n

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Western Pygmy Blue, native to the western U.S. has a wingspan of 12-20mm<\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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Why are butterflies called Butterflies?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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This is a great question, one I probably should have looked up long ago! I always assumed it was because of the common sulfur butterflies, which are a buttery yellow colour. It turns out that’s just one possibility for the origin of the name. Here are some others:<\/p>\n

Butterflies might be named for the colour of their excrement. Old Dutch had the term “boterschijte”, which literally means “butter $#!t” (trying to keep this family friendly!) When butterflies metamorphose, their first poop upon emerging from the chrysalis, called “meconium”, is brightly coloured, often yellow or orange.<\/p>\n

Old German names included “botterlicker” (butter-licker), “molkendieb” whey-thief and “milchdieb” (milk-thief). It has been suggested that people in the middle ages believed that butterflies stole milk and butter. This makes me want to do an experiment! Looking to supplement their diet with minerals, butterflies will feed on lots of weird things, including urine, feces and dead animals. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could get them to come to a puddle of discarded whey or an old rotting cheese rind. I’ve got to try that! Back in the Middle Ages, when dairy products were made in the barnyard, it is possible that butterflies snacking on discarded dairy products gave rise to these names.<\/p>\n

The tendency for butterflies to feed on poop might also explain the Old Dutch term. Butter-coloured sulfur butterflies feeding together on animal excrement might have given rise to the name.<\/p>\n

The possibilities are delightful, aren’t they?! Below is a question mark butterfly (note the white question mark on its wing) feeding on nice fresh doggy doo on a trail in the Ottawa Greenbelt. You’re welcome! – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/wordhistories.net\/2017\/11\/25\/names-of-butterfly\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Do the butterflies that eat poisonous stuff have poison in them?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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Butterflies that eat toxic (poisonous) plants while they are caterpillars have many different adaptations for dealing with plant toxins.<\/p>\n

Some butterflies keep the toxins in their bodies to protect themselves against predators while they are still caterpillars and retain these toxins when they metamorphose into adults. They sometimes store the plant toxins in specific parts of the body. Monarchs have toxins that they get from eating milkweed in their wings. A bird that takes a bite out of the wing learns that the monarch is not good to eat, and the monarch survives to fly another day, although perhaps not as effortlessly as it would have with undamaged wings.<\/p>\n

Other caterpillars that eat toxic plants do not store the toxins in their bodies. They have enzymes in their guts that detoxify the toxins just as we do (our enzymes are mainly in the liver). If they have just eaten, however, their foregut (the first gut segment) might be full of nasty plant juices that they can regurgitate onto predators that try to eat them.<\/p>\n

One of my favourite examples of dealing with plant toxins comes from the tobacco hornworm, which is the caterpillar of a large moth. Nicotine in tobacco is highly toxic to most organisms (including humans). Tobacco hornworms “breathe” nicotine out of their spiracles, which are tiny holes on the sides of their bodies that they use to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide, like our nostrils. Having stinky “nicotine breath” protects the caterpillars from predators such as spiders. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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Are the wasps in my garden keeping butterflies away?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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While it is possible that some pollinators are aggressive towards each other, I am amazed at how often I see the opposite: butterflies, bees, wasps and other pollinators \u201cgetting along\u201d together on nectar sources. One exception to that is the native solitary bees that have territorial males, which can be aggressive in a sort of cute way. I\u2019ve seen them try to bonk a bumblebee off a flower. However, most large wasps have little incentive to be aggressive at flowers. Wasps are mainly meat eaters, either as predators or parasitoids. When we see them at flowers, they are mostly stopping to re-fuel so that they have the energy to search for caterpillars, spiders and other soft-bodied insects. Although the wasps that live in large nests will aggressively defend the nest, there isn\u2019t much reason for them to be aggressive towards other insects, such as butterflies, at flowers. However, it is possible that their huge appetite for caterpillars might be having an impact on the numbers of butterflies in your yard.<\/p>\n

Another reason for the decline that you observed is that butterfly numbers can fluctuate greatly from one year to the next. Some years are better than others for monarchs (I wasn\u2019t sure if you were seeing a decline in the numbers of this particular species or if it was a dip in the numbers of butterflies in general you had noticed). Red admirals are one of the best examples of the natural variability in butterfly abundance; their numbers can fluctuate from one year to the next by orders of magnitude. These natural fluctuations could be behind your observation of fewer butterflies this past summer. We also had drought conditions in June and July which could have affected butterfly numbers later in the summer by drying out the host plants of the early-season caterpillars. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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How do butterflies fly?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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This is a great question \u2013 in fact, it\u2019s a question that has motivated my entire professional career!\u00a0 Now, I\u2019m going to assume you\u2019re asking about the aerodynamics<\/em><\/strong> of flying, not how the muscles move the wings up and down.\u00a0 The answer to this question is actually something that we\u2019re only recently (in the last c. 20 years) beginning to understand.\u00a0 Butterflies DO NOT fly like airplanes or birds<\/em> \u2013 they do it differently! Butterflies produce lift<\/strong>, which is the force that keeps butterflies in the air, using small swirling vortices (\u2018tornadoes\u2019) of air they generate with their wings as they flap them up and down!\u00a0 \u00a0Producing lift the way airplanes produce lift simply doesn\u2019t work when you\u2019re as small as a butterfly.\u00a0 In fact, butterflies, moths, and other flying insects all seem to use the same or similar \u2018tricks\u2019 to keep in the air.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very exciting time to study how insects, like butterflies, fly \u2013 in fact, what we\u2019re learning about how insects fly is also helping us with making better flying machines like drones and microaerial vehicles. – Dr. Jeff Dawson<\/a><\/p>\n

To further explain this complicated subject to a younger audience, Dr. Jeff Dawson created this video<\/a> and the below image.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Butterflies have well developed wings that they use to escape from predators and find mates. They have strong flight muscles that allow them to fly in zig-zaggy directions to outsmart a bird that might be chasing them. Most butterflies have legs that they use for walking on plants, for example when they are laying eggs. I have never seen a butterfly running. Flying is their mode of transportation when they want to get somewhere quickly. – Dr. Jayne Yack<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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How do butterflies adapt to their environment?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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Butterflies have many different adaptations to find mates, avoid freezing and avoid predators. For example, Monarch butterflies from Canada fly thousands of miles to Mexico to avoid the freezing temperatures during the winter. Some butterflies flick their wings to display eyespots, and ooze nasty foam from their bodies to stop the attack of a predator. – Dr. Jayne Yack<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/dd>\n\n\t

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Do butterflies really taste through their feet?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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Many insects, including butterflies, have contact chemoreceptors on their legs. They can also taste with sensory organs on their mouth parts. Insects have sensory organs on different parts of their bodies. Some butterflies can \u2018see\u2019 with their back ends, and \u2018hear\u2019 with their wings. – Dr. Jayne Yack<\/a><\/p>\n

Taste involves detecting chemicals upon contact or “contact chemoreception”. Butterflies do indeed have contact chemoreceptors on their feet, so yes, they “taste” plant chemicals through their feet, just as we use the receptors on our tongue to taste our food.\u00a0However, a female butterfly doesn’t taste the plant leaves because she is interested in eating them herself. Her main concern is finding an appropriate plant for her offspring to feed on. She needs to detect the right combination of chemicals on a leaf to determine whether that plant is safe (not toxic) for her caterpillars before she lays an egg. – Dr. Naomi Cappuccino<\/a><\/p>\n

Butterflies have chemoreceptors on their feet that act like human taste buds. A female butterfly will drum the leaves with her feet to release the plant juices. She is searching for the right plant chemicals and if it is a match will lay her eggs. These chemoreceptors sense dissolved sugars in fermenting fruit. A favorite snack for tropical butterflies. – Greenhouse Manager, Ed Bruggink<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes — it’s true.\u00a0 Many insects ‘taste’ with strange parts of their bodies in comparison to how people (i.e. humans) taste (and smell) things — we use our mouth and nose.\u00a0 Taste (and smell) is essentially a process of detecting molecules in the environment and sending messages to the ‘brain’ for processing.\u00a0 Butterflies have receptors on their feet that detect molecules in their environment — basically, detecting the molecules of\/in what they are standing on.\u00a0 Ditto for their antenna detecting molecules wafting along in the air (like pheromones).\u00a0Is taste to a butterfly the same as taste to a human?\u00a0<\/strong> Well… what is perceived depends on how the butterfly interprets the messages arriving at it’s brain.\u00a0 Clearly a butterfly brain is different than a human brain so it’s very unlikely that both humans and butterflies ‘perceive’ the deliciousness of an orange slice in the same way. – Dr. Jeff Dawson<\/a><\/p>\n

Visit our Instagram page, @cuButterflies<\/a>, for more facts!<\/p>\n

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What plants can I put in the garden at home to attract butterflies?<\/a><\/dt>\n\n\t\t
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To attract butterflies to your yard, you need to provide the two things they are looking for: a source of nectar and, for the females, the appropriate host plant on which to lay eggs.<\/p>\n

The best nectar plants are those that also serve as a host plant for butterflies–milkweed comes to mind as a good nectar plant that is also a host plant for the monarch butterfly. Unfortunately, there are not many plants that do this sort of double-duty. Many good native nectar plants do not host a local butterfly species, but they do host moths and other insects and thus play an important role in the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

For example, goldenrod is an excellent nectar plant. While it doesn’t host any butterflies, hundreds of native insects feed on it, which in turn provide food for birds and other wildlife. Asters (several species) also provide a good late-season source of nectar. Early nectar sources include cherry, apple and crabapple trees. A closely related species that is also native is shadbush (= serviceberry, saskatoon). Wild bergamot, bee balm and blazing star are gorgeous mid-season nectar plants.<\/p>\n

Butterflies will also use rotting fruit as a source of sugar. The mourning cloak butterfly, which is one of the earliest species to be seen in spring, feed on tree sap, and can often be seen feeding from the holes made by yellow-bellied sapsuckers.<\/p>\n

The host plants that serve as food for the caterpillars of Ontario butterflies are not necessarily beautiful flowering plants that you would typically see in a garden. Here are some of my favourites:<\/p>\n