Have you ever had the opportunity to observe a butterfly up close? If you ever find yourself near a butterfly conservatory, please take the time to visit it. It’s amazing to see butterflies of all kinds of species and all kinds of colours twirl around you. If you are patient you can even see how butterflies use their proboscis to suck nectar from a flower.

Did you know that if you wear clothes with bright colours, you may be lucky enough to have a butterfly landing on you? It happened to me a few times!

Butterflies belong to the order Lepidoptera. Lepidoptera are an order of insects.  There are over 160,000 species of butterflies.

Butterflies have a very interesting life cycle that consists of four stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis (pupa) and butterfly.

Like all insects, butterflies have three pairs of legs. Butterflies also have two pairs of wings that allow them to fly. The wings are covered with scales of colours that vary from one species of butterfly to the other.

Some butterflies have eyespots on their wings. These are drawings that resemble big eyes. The eyespots are a good defence mechanism because they give the illusion of an animal with huge eyes but they also help individuals of the same species recognize each other.