The Butterfly Egg and Where to Find It

The butterfly egg is hard to find but understanding the butterfly life cycle helps.

A butterfly starts life cycle as a small egg deposited on a leaf of a host plant. The host plant is what the tiny larva will eat as it grows into a fat caterpillar.

The female butterfly finds a suitable host plant by sight and by smell. She uses chemical receptors on her feet to scratch the leaf surface to "taste" the plant to see if it is the right one. If it is the right plant, she curves her abdomen downward and lays an egg.

Butterfly eggs are tiny. Usually one to two millimeters. And hard to find.

Butterfly eggs vary in shape, size, color and texture. The shapes vary with species. Some are round, but most are oval. Some eggs are ribbed.

Some eggs are usually laid singly. It depends on the species of butterfly. Single eggs are laid one per plant or one per leaf. Other species lay eggs in groups or clusters. Some times these groups or clusters are laid in distinct patterns. Some eggs are stacked one on top of another.

Eggs are attached to the plant by a sticky fluid that the female butterfly secretes. The egg is glued to the plant. Eggs are attached to a plant so strongly, that if your try to remove it, you will destroy the egg. Eggs are usually laid on the top or bottom of a leaf. Or even inside a blooming flower. They can also be laid on the stem of a plant.

Some eggs overwinter and hatch in spring. But, most caterpillars spend the winter as chrysalis. They emerge as adult butterflies when the weather warms up in the spring.

A butterfly egg hatches in about a week. This depends on temperature, humidity and the time of year. An egg may change color just before it hatches. Most butterfly species lay between 100 to 300 eggs. Some species may lay a few dozen. Others can lay over a thousand.

Eggs usually hatch in a few days. The first meal for some tiny caterpillars is it's own egg shell. But, most eat the host plant, it's egg was laid on.

The next phase of a butterfly's life cycle is the caterpillar or larva stage.


More Butterfly Information

Butterfly Life Cycle
egg
larva
chrysalis
adult

Where to find them
The most common butterfly species
Seven butterfly families
Spring butterflies

Attracting Butterflies
Top nectar plants
Top host plants


Field Guides
Black Butterflies
Mourning Cloak Butterfly
Swallowtail Butterflies

Return for Butterfly Egg to Butterfly Life Cycle