The butterfly life cycle is one of the most fascinating things in the insect world. With its unusual for stages, a butterfly goes from egg to larvae, to pupa and then, almost as if by magic, into the beautiful winged creatures we know and love.

Butterflies lay their eggs once or twice during a season. The adult butterfly actually has a very short lifespan of only a couple of weeks, however, for those that are "born" late in the season, there is a built-in safety mechanism where the butterfly can live for seven or eight months, long enough for it to migrate to a warmer climate and then come back as an adult to lay her eggs.

The eggs are laid usually underneath a leaf in certain species of butterflies have certain plants which they prefer to lay their eggs on. The eggs have a hard outer shell with a protective wax covering that keeps them from drying out. They are attached to the leaf with amazingly strong glue which makes it virtually impossible to separate the two.

Next, in the butterfly life cycle, he egg hatches an outcome the little larvae or tiny caterpillars. These miniature eating machines then proceed to much away on the host plant eating pretty much the whole thing. As the caterpillar grows, it goes through several moltings, and as it matures you can actually see the markings of the wings start to take form.

At some point, nature signals the caterpillar that it's time for its transformation. It starts looking for a suitable site which is usually the underside of a leaf. The caterpillar will attach itself and then molt hard outer shell which becomes the pupa or chrysalis. This hanging pod is quite unappealing on the outside, but inside a beautiful transformation is happening and eventually out comes the beautiful adult butterfly.

When a butterfly first emerges from its chrysalis, it may take it a while before it can actually take flight. It needs to get blood into the wings and dry them out and this can take from one to three hours.

But eventually, the new butterfly flies off feeding on nectar and maturing until it can lay its own eggs and start the butterfly life cycle all over again.