BUTTERFLY PHILOSOPHY
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Date:
30 Apr 2020 -
Author:
KEHATI
When we talk about the butterfly, maybe most of the people are thinking about their beauty. These little flying creatures that love to fly and perch at the colorful flowers. Did we know that from their previous phases, their looks are not as beautiful as we imagine? Butterfly has four stages of life which called metamorphosis.
Butterflies have “complete metamorphosis.” To grow into an adult they go through 4 stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Each stage has a different goal – for instance, caterpillars need to eat a lot, and adults need to reproduce. Depending on the type of butterfly, the life cycle of a butterfly may take anywhere from one month to a whole year.
For the first phase, a butterfly starts life as a very small, round, oval or cylindrical egg. It will lay their eggs on the bottom of their favorite leaves. When the egg hatches, the caterpillar will start his work and eat the leaf they were born onto. Each caterpillar type likes only certain types of leaves. This second phase is the hardest time for butterflies. Caterpillars are always seen as a pest because they eat leaves.
Move to the third phase, a caterpillar will morph into a pupa. As soon as a caterpillar is done growing and they have reached their full length/weight, they form themselves into a pupa, also known as a chrysalis. It stays on the pupa form for around 21 days before it changes to the last phase. Finally, when the time has come, the pupa will become a butterfly. After they “destroy” the leaves where they born onto, the butterfly will help plants as a pollinator.
Another important fact, butterflies are the indicator of air cleanliness. They can be used as an indicator if there are any ecological changes in those areas. If a place has higher butterfly diversity, it means the environment is still good.
Lanjut ke fase ketiga, ulat akan berubah menjadi kepompong. Setelah merusak daun sebagai makanannya, kepompong berpuasa selama 21 hari sebelum menuju fase terakhir. Di akhir fase, proses metamorfosis pun sempurna dan kepompong berubah menjadi kupu-kupu. Sebagai penebus dosa karena sempat “merusak” daun yang tumbuh, kupu-kupu pun terbang kesana kemari dengan cantiknya untuk menghibur manusia dan seisi alam. Tidak hanya itu saja, kehadirannya berfungsi membantu penyerbukan tanaman.