Butterfly

Pakistan has over 100 varieties of butterflies but unfortunately these pretty creatures are becoming rare. You don't need a lot of space in your garden, but with a little bit of knowledge and our list of plants you could turn your garden into a butterfly paradise.
Butterflies are beautiful, flying insects with large scaly wings. Like all insects, they have six jointed legs, 3 body parts, a pair of antennae, compound eyes, and an exoskeleton. The three body parts are the head, thorax (the chest), and abdomen (the tail end).

The butterfly's body is covered by tiny sensory hairs. The four wings and the six legs of the butterfly are attached to the thorax. The thorax contains the muscles that make the legs and wings move.

Flying
Butterflies are very good fliers. They have two pairs of large wings covered with colorful, iridescent scales in overlapping rows. Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are the only insects that have scaly wings. The wings are attached to the butterfly's thorax (midsection). Veins support the delicate wings and nourish them with blood. Butterflies can only fly if their body temperature is above 86 degrees. Butterflies sun themselves to warm up in cool weather. As butterflies age, the color of the wings fades and the wings become ragged.

The speed varies among butterfly species (the poisonous varieties are slower than non-poisonous varieties). The fastest butterflies (some skippers) can fly at about 30 mile per hour or faster. Slow flying butterflies fly about 5 mph.

Life-Cycle of a Butterfly
Egg - A butterfly starts its life as an egg, often laid on a leaf. Larva - The larva (caterpillar) hatches from an egg and eats leaves or flowers almost constantly. The caterpillar molts (loses its old skin) many times as it grows. The caterpillar will increase up to several thousand times in size before pupating. Pupa - It turns into a pupa (chrysalis); this is a resting stage. Adult - A beautiful, flying adult emerges. This adult will continue the cycle.

Caterpillars

Caterpillars spend most of their time eating leaves using strong mandibles (jaws). A caterpillar's first meal, however, is its own eggshell. A few caterpillars are meat-eaters; the larva of the carnivorous Harvester butterfly eats woolly aphids. A newly hatched caterpillar, a larva, is tiny. Most can only crawl about 3 feet per minute, so they hide under leaves. Caterpillars eat and eat and eat! They spend about one month eating; they also molt (shed their skin) during this time. Caterpillars usually have 16 legs. They don't have nose, and they breathe through holes in their backs; these holes are called spiracles.

Butterfly Diet
Butterflies like to eat nectar and rotting fruit. They use their long proboscis to sip the liquids like a straw.

Butterflies Working: Pollination

Adult butterflies can live from a few days up to a few weeks. A butterfly is a hard worker. Her job is to spread pollen from flower to flower. When she lands to drink the nectar, pollen will stick to her legs and body, waiting to be carried to the next flower.

Predators:
Butterflies and moths have lots of enemies. They are eaten by birds, spiders and insects.

Defenses:
Butterflies have many defenses to protect against predators like warning colours. Some butterflies taste bad and can make their predators sick if they are eaten. These butterflies are brightly coloured to warn a predator of this bad taste. Camouflage helps a butterfly to blend into it's surroundings. They might look like a leaf or the bark of a tree at first glance. Some butterflies mimic, or copy, other animals. Eye spots are a common way to trick it's predator into thinking it is a bigger animal. Some butterflies mimic other butterflies that have bad taste by also having bright colors.

Habitat
Butterflies are found all over the world and in all types of environments: hot and cold, dry and moist, at sea level and high in the mountains. Most butterfly species, however, are found in tropical areas, especially tropical rainforests.

Many butterflies migrate in order to avoid adverse environmental conditions (like cold weather). Butterfly migration is not well understood. Most migrate relatively short distances (like the Painted Lady, the Red Admiral, and the Common Buckeye), but a few (like some Monarchs) migrate thousands of miles.

How to attract butterflies

Provide the butterflies with warmth (a sunny spot), shelter (shrubs and trees) and nectar - and butterflies will start to use your garden to feed and maybe even breed. Certain plants have more attraction for butterflies to draw closer.

Ten plants to try

Aubretia, Aubrieta 'Doctor Mules'; a carpet-forming plant that produces rich violet or blue flowers in May and June. Sweet rocket, Hesperis matronalis; deliciously scented plant that produces white, violet or purple flowers from May to August.

Red valerian, Centranthus ruber; a cottage garden plant that produces clusters of red flowers from mid-summer through to autumn. Great for dry soil. Lavender, Lavandula; a familiar garden favourite, producing white, pink, blue or purple aromatic flowers during the summer months. Flowers and foliage are used for making pot-pourri. Honesty, Lunaria annua ; a tall plant with heart-shaped leaves and sweet-smelling pink or violet-purple flowers from April to June.

Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum; a plant that produces spiny flower-heads of pinkish purple from mid- to late summer.

Small scabious, Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'; a long-flowering plant that produces lavender-blue flowers from late spring well into autumn. Butterfly bush, Buddleja davidii; this plant produces coneshaped clusters of tiny flowers in either purple, white, pink, or red. Irresistible to butterflies! Golden rod, Solidago 'Goldenmosa'; a clump-forming border plant that produces feathery, golden flower-heads in late summer and early autumn. Ivy, Hedera helix ; an evergreen climbing vine that will provide winter nectar for the few remaining butterflies in your garden.

Note: The ideas given in this guidebook have much greater vision than simply winning a Quiz competition. These should inspire our entire livings and these require various levels of commitment to practically implement the ideas in our surroundings. Depending on the nature of your school or community, you can transform such ideas into a practical work guided and supported by Green Living Association.