Butterflies are winged insects of the order Lepidoptera. They are the adult version of caterpillars. They are one of animals that undergo a metamorphosis cycle in their live to became adult. There are around 18.500 species of butterfly in the world and they inhabited all region except Antarctica. They feed mainly on nectar from flowers, so they can easily be found in a park or in a forest.
Just like any other insects, the body of a butterfly is divided into three sections, they are: the head, thorax, and abdomen. The head consist of eyes, mouth, antenna and a proboscis that can be coiled. The proboscis is located right above their mouth, between their eyes. They use it to sip the nectar of flowers. There are three segment of their thorax and each of it has a pair of legs, so they have six legs in total. Their wings are also located on the thorax. Their forewings are wider than their hindwings. These wings are decorated with various colors and patterns.
Each species of butterflies can reach various maximum body size. Some of them can reach the size of 25 cm while others can only reach the size of 3 to 5 cm. A species that is considered to be the largest butterfly in the world is Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing or also known as Ornithopetra alexandrae. It is recorded that the life span of a butterfly is around 12 months. 