Observe how long butterflies from various species take to change from a pupa to a butterfly. Also determine whether there are noticeable differences, in terms of time, between individual butterflies of a species reaching the butterfly stage. Ascertain why some butterflies take longer to mature than others, both as a species and as individuals within a species. Also, study whether the health of individual butterflies is affected if they take longer to mature; i.e., do they live shorter lives?
Record the butterfly's life as an adult, how long particular butterflies live and what they feed on. Study where the adult butterfly lives and how its environment has changed from when it was in the caterpillar and pupa stage. Record whether the size of the butterflies has any impact at all on how long they live. Observe also which species of butterflies go into hibernation. Research the biggest dangers to each species of butterfly.
Study the pupas of an individual species and record any variations in size. Determine whether the size of a pupa has any influence on how big the butterfly will be, and if a pupa is considerably smaller, observe whether the emerging butterfly appears to be as healthy as the other butterflies. Record the changes from caterpillar to pupa and what behavior by the caterpillar indicates that it is about to move into the pupa stage of its life cycle.
Make notes of the various colors and markings of the caterpillars of different species. Note how they change when the caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Also make observations on the differences in color and markings between the male and female butterflies of various species. Determine if it is normal for the differences in color and markings between the sexes to be very noticeable, or barely noticeable at all. Make a record of several species in which the differences are most obvious.