The Butterfly Life Cycle

The Butterfly Life Cycle A Reading A Z Level H Leveled Book Word Count: 233 LEVELED BOOK H The Butterfly Life Cycle Visit for thousands of books and materials.

Photo Photo Credits: Credits: Photo Credits: Front Front cover, cover, back back cover: cover: Kevin Kevin Knight/Alamy; title page: title page: istock/cathy Front cover, back cover: Kevin Knight/Alamy; title page: istock/cathy Keifer; Keifer; page page 3 (main): 3 (main): Roberta Roberta Olenick/All Olenick/All Canada Canada Photos/Corbis; page page 3 3 Keifer; page (main): Roberta Olenick/All Canada Photos/Corbis; page (inset), (inset), page page 6 (bottom), 6 (bottom), page page (bottom): (bottom): Jordan Jordan McCullough/123RF; page page 4 4 (inset), page (bottom), page (bottom): Jordan McCullough/123RF; page (top): (top): istock/steve istock/steve Snyder; Snyder; page page 4 (center 4 (center left, center left, center right): right): istock/susan (top): istock/steve Snyder; page (center left, center right): istock/susan Wood; Wood; page page 4 (bottom): 4 (bottom): istock/lisa istock/lisa Thornberg; Thornberg; page page 5 (main): 5 (main): Michael Michael Wood; page (bottom): istock/lisa Thornberg; page (main): Michael Ready/Visuals Unlimited, Unlimited, Inc.; Inc.; page page 5 (inset): 5 (inset): Papilio/Alamy; page page 5 (bottom), 5 (bottom), Ready/Visuals Unlimited, Inc.; page (inset): Papilio/Alamy; page (bottom), page page 11 (bottom 11 (bottom right): right): istock/ambientideas; page page 6 (main): 6 (main): Dick Dick Poe/ Poe/ page 11 (bottom right): istock/ambientideas; page (main): Dick Poe/ Visuals Visuals Unlimited, Unlimited, Inc.; Inc.; page page 7 (main): 7 (main): Cathy Cathy Keifer/Dreamstime.com; page page Visuals Unlimited, Inc.; page (main): Cathy Keifer/Dreamstime.com; page 7 (bottom), 7 (bottom), page page 13 (bottom): 13 (bottom): Le Do/123RF; Le Do/123RF; page page 8 (main): 8 (main): Blend Blend Images/ Images/ (bottom), page 13 (bottom): Le Do/123RF; page (main): Blend Images/ Alamy; Alamy; page page 8 (bottom): 8 (bottom): istock/triggermouse; page page 9 (top 9 left): (top left): istock/joe istock/joe Alamy; page (bottom): istock/triggermouse; page (top left): istock/joe Pogliano; Pogliano; page page 9 (top 9 right, (top right, bottom bottom left, bottom left, bottom right): right): Scott Scott Camazine/Alamy; Pogliano; page (top right, bottom left, bottom right): Scott Camazine/Alamy; page page 10: 10: Patty Patty Jenks/Dreamstime.com; page page 11 (all 11 but (all bottom but bottom right), right), page page page 10: Patty Jenks/Dreamstime.com; page 11 (all but bottom right), page 12 (left, 12 (left, right), right), page page 13 (left, 13 (left, right): right): Michael Michael Durham/Visuals Unlimited, Unlimited, Inc.; Inc.; 12 (left, right), page 13 (left, right): Michael Durham/Visuals Unlimited, Inc.; page page (main): (main): istock/debra Wiseberg; Wiseberg; page page (inset): (inset): Ingo Ingo Arndt/Minden page (main): istock/debra Wiseberg; page (inset): Ingo Arndt/Minden Pictures; Pictures; page page 15: 15: Jaap Jaap de Roode Roode Pictures; page 15: Jaap de Roode The Butterfly The Butterfly Life Cycle Life Cycle The Butterfly Life Cycle Level Level H Leveled H Leveled Book Book Level Leveled Book Learning Learning A Z A Z Learning A Z Written Written by Torran by Torran Anderson Anderson All rights All rights reserved. reserved. All rights reserved. Correlation Correlation LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL H H Fountas Fountas Fountas & Pinnell Pinnell & Pinnell H H Reading Reading Reading Recovery Recovery Recovery 13 13 13 DRA DRA DRA A female monarch butterfly may lay 400 to 500 eggs in her lifetime! A monarch butterfly may only live for two to six weeks. The female monarch lays her eggs. The butterfly life cycle starts again. 15 15 16 16 Glossary butterfly (n.) an insect with four wings that are bright in color (p. 4) caterpillar (n.) the larva of a butterfly or moth (p. 5) life cycle (n.) the stages of change that an organism goes through during its life (p. 4) mate (n.) the partner of an animal (p. ) pupa (n.) an immature insect in the stage between a larva and an adult (p. 10) stages (n.) periods of time in the growth of something, such as an insect (p. 4) The Butterfly Life Cycle

Monarch butterflies drink nectar, a sweet liquid made by plants. They sip nectar with a long tongue shaped like a tube. Then, the butterfly is able to fly. It flies off to eat. It also searches for a mate. Table of Contents The Life Cycle................ 4 Egg......................... 5 Pupa........................ 9 Adult Butterfly................ 11 Glossary..................... 16 3 3 Life Cycle of a Butterfly caterpillar egg pupa adult butterfly Most monarch butterfly wings are about 4 inches (10 cm) from tip to tip. The Life Cycle The butterfly hangs for A monarch butterfly has three to four hours. four stages in its life cycle. The sun and air dry its wings. 4 4 13 13

The young caterpillar eats its own shell. If there are two eggs on a leaf, the caterpillar will eat the other egg first! The hungry caterpillar eats all the time. First, the caterpillar eats its own eggshell. Then, the caterpillar eats the leaf it is on. The butterfly breathes in air to make its body bigger. Then, the shell splits so the butterfly can climb out. Adult Butterfly The pupa comes out of its shell. It is now a butterfly. Its wings are wet. 6 6 11 11 A young caterpillar hatches from its egg. A female monarch butterfly usually only lays one egg on a leaf. Egg A female monarch butterfly lays an egg on a leaf. While the butterfly hangs, it pushes liquid into its wings to make them unfold. A caterpillar grows The new butterfly rests. inside the tiny egg. The butterfly must hang upside The egg hatches in down, or it will not be able to fly. three to twelve days. 12 12 5 5

The green pupa looks like a leaf. The color helps it hide from other animals. The caterpillar puts down sticky silk. The silk keeps the old skin in place while the caterpillar wiggles out of it. This green skin becomes hard. The caterpillar is now a pupa. It will stay inside its shell for one to two weeks. The caterpillar grows quickly. Its skin does not grow. The caterpillar s skin splits and peels away. 10 10 7 7 Do You Know? Monarch caterpillars only eat the leaves of the milkweed plant. The caterpillar s bright black and yellow colors warn animals that they will get sick if they eat it. The caterpillar s skin splits down its back like a zipper! New skin is under the old skin. Pupa The caterpillar sheds its skin When the caterpillar is grown, four to six times. it hangs from a branch. The caterpillar grows It sheds its skin one last time. for two to four weeks. The new skin is bright green. 8 8 9 9