Butterflies are insects from the Lepidoptera group.
A butterfly is an insect that has four wings , usually bright in color. This animal is part of the Lepidoptera : those species that, in addition to two pairs of wings with scales, have a sucking mouth with a proboscis and develop a complete metamorphosis .
In its juvenile phase, the butterfly is a larva or caterpillar . It then becomes a pupa and over time it develops the characteristics that define it as an adult, such as the wings and the oral apparatus with the proboscis that allows it to access the nectar it extracts from the flowers.
Characteristics of butterflies
Although there are multiple species of butterflies, the majority are herbivorous. They ingest flowers, leaves, roots and stems like caterpillars and finally nectar. Certain types of butterflies, however, are carnivorous.
To reproduce, males carry out different courtships. The usual thing is that they display themselves in front of the female and produce pheromones . The smell of these pheromones ends up covering the female.
life expectancy
One of the aspects of butterflies that attracts us most is their life expectancy . Generally, as children we are taught that they only live one day; Saying this to a small child always generates a very particular impact, considering that our species usually exceeds seventy years of life. But this data is not entirely accurate, at least not for all species.
First of all, we must say that the size of the butterfly species is directly proportional to its life expectancy : while the smallest ones can live for just a few hours, the largest ones can exceed ten months. Among the species that live the longest are Monarchs , certain tropical Heliconius , and Mourning Cloaks .
A determining factor in this aspect is the climate . For example, if a butterfly lays its eggs when cold weather is about to arrive, birth will only occur when the heat returns; On the other hand, adult butterflies can hibernate to cope with low temperatures, extending their life span for several months, even longer than they would live naturally in a temperate or warm climate.
It is common for butterflies to be protagonists of legends and myths.
Legends with butterflies
The butterfly has a very important space in the universe of myths and legends , partly because of its short life but also because of its beauty, its physical transformation and that feeling of freedom that it evokes in us. Next we will see a summary of an ancient Japanese legend titled The Blue Butterfly .
Many years ago, a man lost his wife and had to take care of his two daughters, whose curiosity was insatiable. Every day they overwhelmed him with dozens of questions, many of which he could not answer due to lack of knowledge. For this reason, he decided to take them to a wise man. When they arrived, one of the girls caught a blue butterfly to test the wise man, who asked if it was still alive; He responded that everything depended on her, since "it was in her hands.".
The term in swimming
In the field of swimming , butterfly is a style that consists of moving the legs down and up together while both arms simultaneously develop a forward rotation movement.
The butterfly stroke is considered a variation of the breaststroke. The swimmer must bring his arms above the water and then back, both together and at the same time . Meanwhile he has to perform an undulating movement of the hips that ends with kicks.
The men's 100 meter (50 meter pool) butterfly world record is owned by American Caeleb Dressel , who in 2021 achieved a mark of 49.45 seconds . Among swimmers, the 100-meter record in a 50-meter pool was set by Sweden's Sarah Sjöström in 2016: 55.48 seconds .