With butterflies, as a rule, something very pleasant is associated. No wonder in the East there is a sign that if it flies into the house, then happiness will definitely visit it. This motley patch indicates that heat has come, joyful days are coming, and the insect itself is so beautiful that, of course, in all cultures it can symbolize only bright images.
One of the most common and often found in our winged beauties is
hive butterfly.
It appears already in the month of April, when the snow barely melts and the first shoots break through and, being daylight, flutters where the nettles are most, because its caterpillars feed only on the named burning plant.
The urticaria butterfly has a rather small size, wingspan of up to 5 cm and noticeable color - brick red with large black and yellow spots on the outer edge of the front wings. And the back borders with a dark border with blue dots in the form of a crescent. The base of the wings is black, and the back side is brownish-brown. This, by the way, provides the hives with an ideal disguise during wintering in hollows, in attics and in sheds. You can see beautiful photos of butterflies right here.
In general, this variety can be found on a large territory: from Europe to East Asia. The hive butterfly adorns gardens, fringes and any flowering territories, feeding on nectar and spreading pollen. It is met even in the mountains at an altitude of 3000 m. Females lay eggs on stinging nettles, turning it into a kind of “Christmas tree” decorated with tiny golden balls. This happens up to three times in the summer. Our butterfly got its name from this plant.
Caterpillars are painted in a dark, almost black color with light yellow double stripes on both sides, they have spikes. They live, as a rule, in groups. During its development, the caterpillars molt several times, becoming more and more in size.
To transform, they hang upside down, fixing with the help of their glue. In place of the caterpillar, a rather angular chrysalis forms, inside of which a miracle occurs for three weeks - a hive butterfly is born there. When the cocoon bursts, the creature hiding inside is born with small wings growing and spreading right in front of the eyes. As soon as they become suitable for flight, the insect soars up.
If you look closely at the behavior of our butterfly, you can find that it accurately predicts rain. Two hours before the weather changes, urticaria begins to hide in shelter, hanging somewhere under the leaf upside down, and sometimes even flying into houses.
In October, the insect goes for wintering. This amazing creature can freeze through, becoming just a small ice floe in our cold winters, but does not die. She only stiffens, waiting for warm and fine days. But our butterfly appears one of the first, pleasing to the eye and foreshadowing the onset of heat.
By the way, only fertilized females of urticaria survive, and males die with the onset of cold weather.
The French call the hives a butterfly-turtle, and the Germans - the fox. But no matter what they call it, it’s hard not to agree that these are beautiful butterflies. Photos of some of them we have provided for your attention in the article.
