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 What
is the name of an insect that has two pairs of large wings and their wings vary in color and pattern?
They are butterflies! Kids sometimes think butterflies are slightly different insects.
Well, just like other insects they have a hard exoskeleton. And they have
three pairs of jointed legs, antennae and really big eyes.
So, yes, butterflies have the three major body parts: head, thorax and abdomen.
Butterflies come in many different sizes. The world’s smallest butterfly
is half an inch. The largest one has the wingspan of 12 inches! Butterflies
live for 20 to 40 days. However, there are some special butterflies
that live up to six months! After hatching, a caterpillar begins to eat
leaves. The caterpillar sheds its skin many times.
When the time comes, it hangs itself in a sheltered area by a silken thread. It spends months or even years
to finally turn into a butterfly.
 Butterflies
escape predators by using disguise. They have the ability to look like a leaf
or blend into the bark of a tree! They also
have toxic chemicals in their
bodies. Predators know that insects with bright colors have a bad
taste.
So, they stay away. The greatest threats to butterflies are
the changes in their habitat. Cities are becoming
more urbanized, and there are fewer places for caterpillars to grow
and turn into butterflies. |
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