The Butterfly Egg

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.