ChatShaala Summary – 10 June 2025 (For School Cubists )
Evening Butterfly Surprise!
We saw a butterfly flying in late evening (around 5:45 pm) and resting at night (even around 11 pm).
Most butterflies are active during the day, so this was a special sighting!
Some butterflies really enjoy the twilight hours (dusk and dawn) even if most are daytime flyers .
How to Tell a Butterfly from a Moth
Look at the shape of the wings:
Butterflies usually have smooth, rounded wings.
Moths often have scalloped or frilly wings.
Other clues:
Butterflies have club-shaped antennae, while moths have fuzzy ones.
Butterflies rest with their wings closed up, moths sometimes spread flat.
Plain Tiger Butterfly & Its Favorite Plant
A beautiful Plain Tiger butterfly was seen laying eggs on the Calotropis plant (called erikku in Malayalam).
This plant is also known as Giant Milkweed and is a favorite of Plain Tiger caterpillars .
The caterpillars eat the leaves, then turn into pupae, and finally emerge as butterflies.
What We Learned
Some butterflies are active at dusk, not just in daylight.
We can tell butterflies and moths apart by looking at their wings and antennae.
A butterfly’s life cycle depends on specific plants—like Plain Tigers need milkweed to grow.
Questions to Think About
- Evening Butterfly Wonder
Why do you think this butterfly came out when it was dark?
Do you think it was looking for food, or just resting?
- Butterfly or Moth Detective
Can you draw a butterfly and a moth and point out the differences in wings and antennas?
- Host-Plant Detective
Why do Plain Tiger butterflies only lay eggs on Calotropis?
What happens if they lay eggs on a different plant?
- Your Own Insect Hunt
Can you observe your garden at twilight (dusk) and note any insect visitors?
Find a plant and check if any caterpillars are using it as a home!
Reference
Credit of the write up @Sailekshmi
I have copy and pasted this write from our CUBE what’s app group with the objective of archiving this data, I encourage @Sailekshmi to post the summery of discussions on metastudio with screenshots of whiteboards and presentations.
