Butterflies and Moths have fascinating and complex life histories that are easy to study in the classroom
Grow your own butterflies
You can produce your own butterflies or moths from eggs or young larvae either purchased from a reputable dealer or using a common species from the garden.
 | Most gardeners will be pleased to sacrifice one cabbage leaf to provide a cluster of Large White eggs for children to hatch out and watch as they grow! (and they will grow very easily on Nasturtium leaves). This will also enable children to develop a respect for living creatures and to learn to handle animals sensitively.
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 | Purchasing Butterfly and/or Moth breeding kits gives more flexibility in the classroom in that the insects can be bred earlier in the year than the Large or Small Whites, which may only be available in a narrow period in the summer. Some of these kits involve indigenous species like the Painted Lady and the Small Tortoiseshell |
 | These have the advantage over more exotic imports in that the adults can be released afterwards into a suitable habitat, whereas Indian Moon Moths certainly will not survive and should not be released anyway. However, the exotic moths are spectacular as caterpillars and adults, and are certainly worth consideration. |
It is important that the eggs used in the kits are of UK or at least European provenance as it is undesirable to release varieties from further afield into our local ecosystems.
You can purchase Butterfly Breeding kits from Insect Lore.
For background reading on rearing butterflies and moths in the classroom, click here.
Very good advice on breeding Butterflies and Moths in the classroom, including important things to consider before you start, can be found in CLEAPSS School Science Service Primary Science and Technology Newsletter No.35 Summer 2006 pp 4-5. Click on this link.
An Introduction to Insect Life-cycles
Insects have a complex development from egg to adult stage by a series of changes called ‘metamorphosis’. Insect life-cycles can be divided into two main groups – those that grow directly from egg to adult through stages that resemble small infertile adults with gradually increasing wing development. This type is called Direct development and the young stages are called Nymphs. These include Grasshoppers, Dragonflies, Mayflies and many other groups of insects. They are said to show ‘incomplete metamorphosis’.
Butterflies and Moths, like Bees and Wasps, Beetles, Two-winged Flies and many other groups, go through a process of ‘indirect development’ , with young stages (the ‘larvae’) so different from the adult (the ‘imago’) that they have to pass through a phase called the chrysalis (proper word ‘pupa’) during which the internal organs are effectively rearranged from the larval to the adult structures. This process from egg to adult is called ‘complete metamorphosis’. In the pupa stage, the proteins and other chemicals are taken apart and put back together again in a different form. The process is miraculous!
The young stages of insects, whether they are larvae or nymphs, have to shed their skins in order to grow.
The stages are called ‘instars’ and the process of shedding the skin is called the moult or ecdysis. At the final moult, the winged fertile adult emerges. The job of the adult stage is to fly to disperse the species and to mate and breed. A few female insects can lay eggs without needing a male to mate first – this process is called parthenogenesis: some stick insects can do it.
There are a lot of rather daunting terms here but for KS 1 and 2, the terms Egg, Larva (= caterpillar), Pupa (= chrysalis), Adult and moult are the most important in the study of Butterflies and Moths.
Extension work: http://www.whatsthatcaterpillar.co.uk/
Below is a Gallery of images showing the different stages in the life cycle of the Orange-tip butterfly. Click on the first image then scroll through photos via the 'Next' buttons.
