FACT : Butterflies Taste With Their Feet. #CritterThursday

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Here are a few interesting facts :

Butterflies and moths are part of the class of insects in the order Lepidoptera. Butterflies are flying insects with large scaly wings. Like all insects, they have six jointed legs and three body parts: the head, the thorax and the abdomen. The wings are attached to the thorax and they also have a pair of antennae, compound eyes and an exoskeleton.

The butterfly starts its life as an egg, laid on a leaf. The caterpillar (larva) hatches from the egg and eats leaves or flowers. It loses its skin many times as it grows, increasing greatly in size. Eventually it turns into a pupa, or chrysalis and finally a beautiful adult butterfly emerges and the cycle continues.

An adult butterfly has a very short life: just three to four weeks. However, the entire life cycle of a butterfly can range between 2 and 8 months, depending on the species.

It might sound strange to us humans, but butterflies rely on their feet to taste food. Their feet have taste sensors on them that help to locate food for their caterpillars. They stand on a leaf and give it a taste. If they determine the plant is something their caterpillars can eat, they’ll lay their eggs in this spot. As for how butterflies themselves eat? They can’t bite or chew. So butterflies use a long, tube-like tongue called a proboscis (say "pro-boss-kiss") to eat. It works like a straw, allowing butterflies to slurp up liquids like nectar, sap and juice from rotting fruit.

Butterflies are cold-blooded! They can’t fly if their body temperature is less than 30 degrees Celsius.

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