Butterfly burdock - description, habitat, species

Butterfly burdock has a significant external resemblance to a similar individual - butterfly hives. The color of such insects is practically no different. However, the individual in question has lighter tones. In addition, burdocks have black inclusions on the hind wings.

Description

1. As for the length of the body, it does not exceed 3 cm in the insects presented. The wingspan can reach up to 6.5 cm. The wings and the body itself can have different shades of orange. They can be from bright brick to gray.
2. On a bright background of the wings there are symmetrical spots of white and black color. In addition, their intensity may decrease as they approach the back. Most often, in front it may look like a white and black border. Separate inclusions are already observed behind.
3. As for gender differences, females from males are almost impossible to distinguish. The problem is that in insects sexual dimorphism is not pronounced.

Habitat

1. As for the habitat of the individual, it is really impressive. Such butterflies are common throughout the world. It is impossible to meet individuals only in Antarctica and South America. As for the northern border, butterflies are spread even to the tundra.
2. However, individuals do not breed in such areas; for these purposes, they migrate to more southern regions. There are also confirmed studies that in some cases insects fly even to the northern islands, such as Kolguev, Iceland and Svalbard.
3. In other cases, the main habitats of insects can be distinguished. They prefer moist places with dense vegetation. Often it can be the outskirts of the fields, forest edges, roadsides, mixed meadows, summer cottages and coastal areas of water bodies.
4. In addition, butterflies are found even on the slopes of mountains and hills. Insects can feel great at an altitude of up to 3 km. above sea level. However, in any case, individuals prefer sunny places where there is the least shadow.

Food

1. As soon as the caterpillars are born, they begin to devour various weeds. Most often, insects can feast on burdock, thistle, coltsfoot, yarrow, field gingerbread and stinging nettles.
2. It is worth noting that in the southern regions, especially at the time of heat, such caterpillars heavily lean on eggplant, tomatoes, melons and soybeans.
3. As for the ripened insects (adults), they give preference exclusively to nectar of flowering plants. Therefore, do not be surprised if you can see beautiful butterflies in the garden. They will sit on asters, kosmey and window sills.

Lifestyle

1. It is worth noting that individuals belong to excellent flyers. Before migrating, insects simply gather in huge flocks. One may have more than 1 thousand butterflies of this kind.
2. As for the direction of migration, there are only two types. As soon as spring comes, insects fly out of North Africa and go to Europe.
3. Accordingly, with the onset of autumn, the route for butterflies develops exactly the opposite. There are seasonal flights that can be observed in North America and Asia.

Breeding

1. Thistles are no different from other butterflies. They can also observe a full-fledged transformation cycle. This refers to the fact that insects are originally an egg. After that, a caterpillar, a chrysalis and, finally, an imago appear.
2. It is worth noting that these insects can winter if the temperature remains positive.More specifically, butterflies predominantly live in the southern regions. As for living in the middle lane, the insects winter in the form of pupae.
3. If adult insects accidentally encounter freezing temperatures, they die immediately. As a result, the lifespan of butterflies varies greatly depending on the region of residence. In the middle lane, butterflies give birth at about the beginning of summer.
4. Just a few days after laying the eggs, the caterpillars hatch, which are small in size and black in color. In addition, they can see whitish hairs. The insect immediately begins to fatten.

Individuals practically do no harm to humans. On the contrary, caterpillars begin to devour weeds and similar plants. Only in rare cases are they able to harm the crop. Due to climate change in some regions, butterflies die out en masse, so if the situation is not corrected, insects will die out.