The hatching of the adult butterfly or moth from its pupa has to take place very quickly as the insect is very vulnerable to birds and other predators. The shell of the pupa splits behind the head and the new insect emerges and hangs upside down so that its wings can unfold and be pumped up by the pressure of body fluid in the wing veins and then harden in the air without being damaged.

Watch how the butterfly stretches its proboscis (tongue) which at first shows split into its two separate halves.

The job of the adult or imago stage of the butterfly or moth is:

1. to mate and reproduce to increase the numbers of the species. Click here to find out more about courtship and display
2. to disperse to expand the range of the species, away from where the adults hatched. Click here to find out more about the butterflies and moths that migrate to other areas.

In species of butterflies and moths that do not spend long in the adult stage, feeding is much less important - in fact certain adults have no functioning mouthparts - for example, the Emperor Moth shown here.