Wednesday, November 30, 2011

How many legs does a butterfly have?

I have a newly hatched Monarch Butterfly. And it only has four legs i thought incects had 6 legs?|||the answer is six





Their taste sensors are located in the feet, and by standing on their food, they can taste it!





All butterflies have SIX legs and feet. In some species such as the monarch, the front pair of legs remains tucked up under the body most of the time, and are difficult to see.








The life cycle of a Monarch includes a change of form called complete metamorphosis. The Monarch goes through four radically different stages:





The eggs are laid by the females during spring and summer breeding months.


The eggs hatch, revealing worm-like larva, the caterpillars. The caterpillars consume their egg cases, then feed on milkweed, and sequester substances called cardenolides, related to the cardiac glycoside digitalis. During the caterpillar stage, Monarchs store energy in the form of fat and nutrients to carry them through the non-feeding pupa stage.


In the pupa or chrysalis stage, the caterpillar spins a silk pad on a twig, leaf, etc. and hangs from this pad by its last pair of prolegs. It hangs upside down in the shape of a 'J', and then molts, leaving itself encased in an articulated green exoskeleton. At this point, hormonal changes occur, leading to the development of a butterfly.


The mature butterfly emerges after about two weeks and feeds on a variety of flowers, including milkweed flowers, red clover, and goldenrod.





Monarch butterfly laying eggs


Monarch eggs on Swan Plant


Monarch caterpillars


Monarch caterpillar begining pupation


Monarch butterfly chrysalis


Emerging from chrysalis[edit]


Reproduction


The mating period for the overwinter population occurs in the spring, just prior to migration from the overwintering sites. The courtship is fairly simple and less dependent on chemical pheromones in comparison with other species in its genus. Courtship is composed of two distinct stages, the aerial phase and the ground phase. During the aerial phase, the male pursues, nudges, and eventually takes down the female. Copulation occurs during the ground phase and involves the transfer of a spermatophore from the male to female. Along with sperm, the spermatophore is thought to provide the female with energy resources that aid her in carrying out reproduction and remigration. The overwinter population returns only as far north as they need to go to find the early milkweed growth; in the case of the eastern butterflies that is commonly southern Texas.








An albino Monarch butterflyOnce they reach their breeding grounds, the females lay their eggs on milkweed host plants. The egg and larval period is temperature dependent and lasts about 2 weeks. At the end of this period, the larva enter a period of pupation as a chrysalis for 9 to 15 days, after which an adult butterfly emerges to continue the next step of the annual migration. On some remote islands, the monarch never migrates but remains in the garden where it was "born".|||6 it must be a birth defect|||good question,i cant remember how many they have. you could look it up|||as far as i know they hav 6 legs...mayb that one is deformed..lol|||6, its an insect|||Count it silly.|||oh.. i thought six too..|||I don't think it has any just wings, antennas, eyes, etc. The basics|||its an insect and all insects have 6 legs|||6 as any insect

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