Living the life cycle of butterfly in a day

One of my favorite game in my childhood days was to run behind those colorful butterflies in the small garden in our backyard.It has always been an enigmatic , pleasure filled , exhilarating experience , the sense of joy and freedom.It was recently when i visited the butterfly park in Bannerghatta national park(Bangalore) the same pleasure was recreated.

This time thanks to my canon S5IS camera and hardship with which i was trying to take picture of butterflies,the guard there took pity on me and i was lucky to have got an opportunity to see the entire life stage of the butterfly in the laboratory there.It has also taught me an invaluable lesson for life. so i would like to share the details of the life cycle of butterfly(with pictures) along with my perspective of the cycle as i find it very similar to the mental lifecycle of us human beings.

Butterflies belong to the group insecta and reproduce by laying eggs , And there is a high probability that you will pass off the eggs without even noticing it.

Eggs of butterfly 1

Then comes the larvae/catterpillar stage. In the initial stages it supposedly sheds its skin several times before growing into an adult. This information forced me to draw a parallel of the learn/unlearn cycle that we go through, How many times do we shed our ignorance and build a new layer of fresh knowledge.This is a beautiful stage of growth is what i think.Here are 2 pictures of larvae of 2 different types of butterflies sorry that i forgot the name though.

Larvae of a butterfly

Larvae of butterfly 1

Pupa stage is the true testing stage in the butterfly life cycle, it is a stage where it builds a cocoon around itself.In the natural scenario it also has the responsibility to camouflage to protect itself from predators.But the interesting phase is the end , where it has to struggle its way out , it is this struggle which gushes the blood into its wings from its body and brings out the beautiful butterfly out.Once we learn/pursue what we believe in it is the assimilation and the introspection that makes the learning worthwhile. There might be struggle but the end result is always an enlightened mind and success.
pupa of butterfly 1
Then finally as the result of all these hardships comes the butterfly colorful and beautiful all set to explore the world , fluttering its wings without any rest jumping from flower to flower as though to make the fullest of its short 7 day life and relieve itself of the lethargy of staying dormant for so long .I could relate this to the "ah ha" minute that follows after solving a tough problem or anything that you can relate to .. which may be shortlived but unforgettable.

Butterfly 1

With this completes the butterfly lifecycle and my walk in the butterfly garden. Well i was thoroughly rejuventaed after this expedition, looking forward for more of these..