Butterflies are lovely creatures that captivate us, perhapsbecause of the amazing transformation they make from egg tocaterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. Although butterfliesenchant us with their beauty, they are not just whimsical.They play the crucial role of pollinating plants. When they arehunting for nectar, pollen grains stick to them. As they movefrom flower to flower, they spread pollen and enable plants toproduce fertile seeds. There are lots of butterflies livingamong us. Head outside with this edition of Kid Quest to learna bit more about them.

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This is a hummingbird moth. It is just one of many, many types ofpollinators. Try to find as many pollinators on flowers as you can.This includes bees, hummingbirds and even beetles. If you observea species that you are curious about, try to identify it by taking aphoto on a smartphone and uploading it to Seek by iNaturalist.

BUTTERFLIES

Record your answers here.

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Beautiful Pollinators

Some butterflies end up as prey forhungry predators like birds and lizards.Butterflies can protect themselves withadaptations. The common buckeye hasspots on its wings that scare predatorswho mistake the spots for the eyes of amore dangerous creature. It also eatsbitter plants so it tastes bad to predators.

Butterflies lay eggs on carefully chosenplants growing in their native habitats.Each type of newly-hatched caterpillarneeds a specific type of plant. Monarchs eatmilkweed. Without it, monarch offspringcan't survive. Do you see any caterpillarsmunching on leaves? Caterpillars come inmany sizes, colors and patterns.

Butterflies, like this monarch, need flowernectar to eat. They find flowers by followingtheir scent; however, butterflies do not havenoses. They smell with sensors on theirantennae and their feet. Try to find a flowerthat smells good to you. Look everywhere.You might find a huge magnolia bloom or atiny honeysuckle flower.

Butterflies see with compound eyes. Wehave one lens in each of our eyes, butthey have many tiny lenses. Butterfliesdo not try to recognize details like facialfeatures. They look for big patches ofcolorful flowers. They see more colorsthan we do including ultraviolet ones.What colors do you see?

When a caterpillar has eaten its fill, itwraps itself in a chrysalis. It does notwant to be discovered by a hungrypredator, so the chrysalis may becamouflaged to look like an old leaf.Finding one can be tricky. As yousearch, you might discover otherinsects that are camouflaged.

Butterflies can taste their food before theyeat it with receptors on their feet. Thisprevents them from eating something toxic.This swallowtail is eating with a thin straw-like tube called a proboscis. Whilebutterflies are busy tasting and eating, theyspread pollen and pollinate plants. Do yousee any pollen grains on flowers?

SURVIVING

SEEING

5.Write your favorite colors you seeoutside on the back of this sheet. 

GROWING

SMELLING

TASTING

TRANSFORMING

1.Write how many caterpillars youfind on the back of this sheet.

2.Write the flower scent you liked beston the back of this sheet.

3.Describe the pollen grains you find onthe back of this sheet.

4.Describe the camouflaged organismsyou find on the back of this sheet.

6.Write another adaptation a butterflymight have on the back of this sheet.

KID QUEST