In the winter season, everything around changes, nature takes on a new look - everything is covered with snow and ice. Most animals prefer to hide in underground burrows during cold weather, some species of birds fly south, but where do butterflies spend the winter?
Leaving the pupa, many butterflies live during the summer and die in the fall. But in nature there are such species of butterflies that, like warm-blooded animals, live for several years, using various methods of shelter from the winter cold.
Forms of wintering butterflies
Many butterflies spend the winter in the egg stage. Very small, it fits in the most secluded places. Some lepidoptera, such as the crimson silkworm, spend the winter as an adult caterpillar, but this is considered an exception to the rule, since most caterpillars hibernate at an early age, having just emerged from an egg.
The order of Lepidoptera is one of the most numerous among insects. To date, more than 158 thousand species have been described.
The most common way is to hibernate in the pupal stage. Some of the pupae spend the winter in the open, without fear of cold winds, fixing themselves on a tree branch.
That part of the pupae, which are disturbed by the effects of winter temperatures, still choose places inaccessible to rains and winds as caterpillars, and already there they turn into pupae and hibernate.
Wintering sites for butterflies
Such species of butterflies as urticaria, lemongrass, burdock hibernate until spring. They cover their bodies with wings, like a blanket, and hide in cracks in the bark or hollows.
It often happens that the owners of private houses in winter find butterflies huddled in their hearth, which in such cases wake up in the middle of winter. For example, it huddled in a crack near the stove, and after kindling, feeling warmth, the butterfly wakes up in the hope of spring. Unfortunately, having flown out into the street, the insect dies after a while from frost.
Migratory butterflies
In nature, there are migratory butterflies, which, like birds, fly away to warm lands with the onset of autumn, overcoming a huge distance. Scientists have been interested in these flights of winged beauties for a long time, and for many years they have been studying this phenomenon. Researchers have established the places and routes of migratory butterflies.
On the territory of Russia, you can also meet migratory butterflies. Seasonal migrations of the oleander hawk moth at the end of May cover the Black Sea coast and the North Caucasus.
However, the question remains open - how do insects find their route? There is still debate about how birds do this, let alone butterflies. After all, insects have a rather primitive nervous system. It is noteworthy that even very young individuals who have never visited wintering grounds can find the path.
The most striking example of migratory butterflies is the monarch. These amazing beauties go on a long journey every year. An interesting fact is that butterflies fly in different directions depending on the main place of residence.
Monarch butterflies whose habitat is located east of the Rocky Mountains fly to Mexico for the winter, and those who live to the west fly to California.
