The butterfly | Facts & Information

Origin

The oldest fossil is of a possible unnamed skipper butterfly from the upper Paleocene period (about 57 million years ago), from Fur, Denmark. One of the most beautiful specimens preserved is a Riodininae (Voltinia dramba) from 25 million years ago, found in an amber from the Dominican Republic.

Butterflies are currently distributed all over the world, except in very hot and arid regions. A total of 17,500 butterfly species (Papilionoidea) out of a total of 180,000 Lepidoptera species have been estimated.

The Silk butterfly is an important insect species from an economic point of view and is part of the Fam. Bombycidae, Ord. Lepidoptera. It has several varieties or breeds. The breeds in our country, having an evolutionary cycle with one generated per year, are minivans. In other countries there are breeds with 2-3 or more cycles per year and they are called polyvoltine.

Voltinism is a biological phenomenon characterized by the occurrence of a generation, or more, in the course of a year. The character is transmitted hereditarily, being influenced by external ecological factors (light, temperature, humidity).

For a very long time, the Silk butterfly was domesticated and bred in China. Today it is considered that its ancestors are Bombyx mandarina and Theophila religiosae, which live in China, the two states of Korea and Japan. It is of particular importance to the economy because the larvae, known (incorrectly) as "silkworms", produce the threads of natural silk.

Butterfly Feed

Butterflies feed on brightly colored flowers with a strong odor.

Most of these flowers are reddish, orange or pink, colors that I can see well.

Butterflies feed on nectar, a sweet liquid found in most flowers, which they extract with the help of the trunk, by inserting it into the flower.

Flowers produce nectar exclusively to attract insects.

Butterfly Features

The butterfly has its body covered with fine scales. The head, ovoid, bears two large eyes and two pinnate antennae that use to smell and touch. The mouthpiece is rudimentary and the digestive tract atrophied. Two pairs of wings are inserted on the thorax.

The abdomen consists of 9 segments. The male is recognized by liveliness and presence on the abdominal Segment 8, on the dorsal face, of a curved chitinous plate, which protects the segment 9. The female has a voluminous abdomen.

Butterfly families

The five true butterfly families usually recognized in the superfamily Papilionoidea are:

Family Papilionidae

Family Pieridae

Family Lycaenidae

Family Riodinidae

Family Nymphalidae

Predators: bats, frogs, small animals, reptiles, and others..

Butterfly Reproduction

After mating, the female lays several hundred eggs (500-800). Butterflies generally die 8-12 days after mating. The eggs are ellipsoidal, light yellow in color. If the egg is fertilized, its color changes to yellow-orange, pink-gray, with different shades in relation to the breeds (European, Chinese, Japanese).

Unfecundated eggs remain yellow. In eggs that come from bi - or polyvoltine breeds, the color remains yellow until close to hatching, when they become darker. Eggs in diapause have a grayish color.

The evolutionary cycle unfolds by passing through the known stages in complete metamorphosis: egg, larva, nymph and adult. After the egg, the embryo is formed in about 3 days. During unfavorable periods (summer) eggs enter diapause in breeds from the temperate zone. The eggs are placed in the incubator, where after about 11-14 days the larvae of the first age (I) Hatch.The larval stage has 5 growth phases which are also called "ages".

Each phase is separated from the next by a period of rest, called "sleep". 24-48 hours before moulting, the larvae stop eating and are fixed on a support, on which they remain motionless until moulting. During sleep, the moulting preparation period, the ecological factors in the growing halls must be modified by the sericulturers: temperature raised by 1oC; low light; no food is given; do not change the bedding. It is Important that the larvae are not disturbed, because otherwise they die.

The larval stage lasts about a month, with some variations depending on the breeds of worms and the growing conditions. At the end of the 5th age the larva measures 6-7cm in length, weighing 5-6g.

The larvae of Bombyx mori have a body consisting of head, thorax and abdomen covered by a chitinous, blackish skin in the early stages. As it grows, the color becomes like milk. In the region of the thorax there are 3 pairs of legs, and on the lower face of the abdomen there are several pairs of false legs.

They have broken and chewy mouthparts (labrum, labium, 2 mandibles, 2 maxillary palpi and 2 labial palpi). It is to be noted that on both sides of the digestive tube have 2 sericigene glands which, after joining in the cephalic region, open through an orifice (branch) located under the labium.

Towards the end of the larval period V, the larvae stop eating and look for place for ingogosation (warping of the donut). For this purpose, after fixing on vegetable supports (stems of maturica, rapeseed, oak branches) they secrete silk thread through the branch, forming "donut". Thus, the larvae close inside the cocoons turning into Chrysalis (Nymph) in about 6 days.

Nymphs are Oval, Immobile, do not feed. In 10-12 days the Nymphs turn into adults. In the biological cycle of the Silk butterfly is found diapause (state of latency), which is installed in the egg phase, after 3 days from ponta. In native breeds diapause lasts 9-10 months, from July to April.