TEAMWORK: Butterflies and Plants

Plants need animals. Brittlebush and Wild Buckwheat are "host plants" for this butterfly, the Mormon Metalmark. The plant offers food and shelter for the butterfly. The plant needs for the butterfly to sip the nectar from its flowers. When the butterfly sips nectar, little grains of pollen will fall from its legs and wings. The pollen drops into the flower, and pollinates it. Then the flower will turn into a seed or fruit. A new plant will grow from these seeds.

Animals need plants. This little butterfly, the Mormon Metalmark needs plants like Wild Buckwheat and Brittlebush. The butterfly drinks nectar from the flowers. The butterfly lays its eggs onto the leaves of the plant. The eggs hatch, and out come tiny caterpillars. The caterpillars need the plant because they eat the leaves and use the leaves for shelter.

After a while, they go through "metamorphosis." Met-a-morph-o-sis is a big word for when an animal changes into different forms. A butterfly lays eggs. Caterpillars come out of the eggs. The caterpillars make cocoons. In the cocoons, they change into butterflies. When the cocoons open, out fly the butterflies. Amazing!

What other animals go through MET-A-MORPH-O-SIS?

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