On the weekend, I released all the butterflies! It was a magical. They flew up, up and away!
I have a small microscope at home and I managed to take close up photos of a piece of butterfly wing and an empty chrysalis looking through the microscope with my phone!
Can you see how the colour pattern on the wings is made? Tiny scales in different colours make the pattern. The Greek name for butterflies and moths is Lepidoptera which means "scaly wings" in Greek.
Here are the answers to your questions:
* Scientists think that caterpillars turn into butterflies so that they can live in different places and eat different things and that helps them survive.
* The eggs are a blue-green colour so that they are camouflaged on the green leaf and they are hard to see.
* The little spikes on the chrysalis are where the legs and prolegs of the caterpillar used to be.
* The chrysalis "skin" is made of proteins and a type of sugar called "chitin".
* Butterflies know how to fly because it's in their DNA.
* Caterpillars eat but don't drink and butterflies drink but don't eat.
* It looks like the butterflies have only 4 legs to walk but the other two legs are so small it's hard to see them.
* The whole life cycle for a Painted Lady butterfly is about 3-4 weeks, but they can live much longer.
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