I was visiting Bohol Philippines few months back and one of my destinations for my visit is the Habitat Conservatory Center for butterflies. They have all sorts of butterflies, it’s not that huge but it’s really a cool place with a great and entertaining staff (and a sweet cat).
With our tour guide at the Habitat, I was able some fun facts about butterflies which I may have already known when I was little but due to low memory I’m forgetting them. So let me share it with you guys and gals here in the Exotic Philippines blog.
Newly emerged butterflies are can't eat or fly.
The butterfly got a four (4) lifecycle, which starts from the egg, then larva (which is more known as the caterpillar) that are plant eaters, then the pupa, and then the adult butterfly. Yes, when they come out they can’t eat or fly, they wait for a couple of hours to fill itself with blood and wait for them to dry before flying.
Butterfly wings are transparent.
Yes, they said it’s transparent even though it doesn’t look like that and they’re one of the most colorful insects that I can find. The thing is, their wings are made up of layers of chitin (the protein that makes their exoskeleton), and this (transparent) chitins are covered by scales that then reflects light in diverse colors.
Butterflies have four wings.
Yeap, they have actually four (4) wings, there’s two hind wings and then two fore wings which are connected to the second and third thoracic segments.The largest butterfly wingspan is like the bird wings of Melanesia.
I’ve seen a huge butterfly in the Habitat, but they say the largest butterfly in the planet has a wingspan of up to 25 cm or 10 inches which is like the Melanesia bird.Butterflies live just for a few days.
From the day they come out from the chrysalis as an adult butterfly, their remaining day’s starts counting down so they focus more on eating and mating. Depending on the type of butterfly, they can at least live a few days up to a year.
Don't pet the butterflies.
I used to love catching the butterfly and pet them, but then they say that petting them can cause death to them. At the Habitat I’ve learned that touching them may rub off their scales that (as I’ve mentioned above) gives colors to their wings and help them fly. So if they can’t fly, they can’t go to the flowers to eat and yes, they may die. So don’t pet them.If a butterfly lands on you it won't bite.
I’ve actually placed the butterfly in my face, in my arms, and on my shoulders. I was afraid that the butterfly will bite me but it didn’t, I do feel the feet though. But one thing I didn’t noticed is that they’re actually sipping my sweat (thank you very much) because our sweat have salt that butterflies needs to be healthy.
The stop at the Habitat is usually included in the itinerary for the Bohol tours, and I got mine from WithLocals.com where I got the whole day tour for $44.
Got some fun facts about butterfly to share with us? Please share it with us through leaving a comment below!
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