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Antenna
- A butterfly
has 2 antennae on its head. They are skinny
with
- little knobs
on the end. Butterflies use their antenna to
smell
- flowers,
plants, and other butterflies.
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Eyes
- A butterfly
has two compound eyes - lots of
little
- eyeballs
grouped together. Each eyeball sees a little
part
- of what the
butterfly is looking at. It's like looking
through
- a bunch of
straws bundled together.
-
- Butterflies
can see colors. They look for flowers and
plants
- and other
butterflies!
-
- Click
here
to see the sulfur yellow's eyes up
close.
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Proboscis
- A proboscis is
like a long tongue or drinking straw. The
butterfly
- uncoils its
proboscis and sips up flower nectar or fruit
juice.
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Legs
- Butterflies
have 6 legs (3 pairs).
- Butterflies
taste with their feet! That's how
they
- find flower
nectar and the best plants to lay their
eggs.
-
- "Brush-footed"
butterflies (mourning cloak, painted lady,
monarch)
- look like they
have only 4 legs. The two front legs are
small
- and covered
with small hairs. They hold these legs up by
their head.
-
- Click
here
to see the mourning cloak's legs up
close.
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Body
A butterfly has 3
body sections: Head,
Thorax
and Abdomen.
- The thorax has
strong muscles that help the butterfly
move
- its legs and
wings.
- The
butterfly's heart and stomach are in its
abdomen.
- It also
"breathes" through small holes on the sides of
the abdomen.
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Wings
- Butterflies
have 4 wings: 2 hindwings
and 2 forewings.
- Butterflies
with long narrow wings can fly very
fast.
- Butterflies
with larger wings can float and glide in the
air.
-
- Butterflies
use their wings to soak up the sun's
rays
- when the
weather is cold.
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Scales
- Tiny colorful
scales cover the both sides of a butterfly's
wings.
- Scales with
different colors make patterns and designs on
the wings.
- These patterns
are almost the same on the left and right
wings,
- but patterns
are very different on the front and back of the
wing.
-
- Some
butterflies have very colorful wings so other
butterflies can
- see them and
find them when they want to mate. Sometimes
brightly
- colored
butterflies are poisonous and bad-tasting. When
other animals
- see them, they
know not to eat them.
-
- Some
butterflies have dull colors on their wings.
This helps to
- camouflage or
hide them so other animals won't eat
them.
Click
here
to see more butterfly scales up
close.
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