Why do butterflies have different colours on their wings? Try our kids’ quiz

Illustration: Hennie Haworth/The Guardian

1. Anna, 10, asks: why do butterflies have different colours on their wings?

   1. To protect them and to help them find a mate

   2. Because they are very vain and need to be colourful to feel beautiful

   3. Having several colours instead of just one helps them be more aerodynamic

   4. So that they are easier to see when they’re flying

2. Jocelyn, 5, asks: what kind of butterfly or moth has the biggest caterpillars?

   1. Devil moth

   2. Cosmic moth

   3. Regal moth

   4. Atlas moth

3. Arlo, 7, asks: can a tree grow so high that it reaches space?

   1. Yes, but none ever has because humans keep cutting them down!

   2. Yes, the Arbor universalis can, but there are only a few and they take 100,000 years to grow tall enough

   3. No, the tallest trees only grow to about 100 metres

   4. No, trees can’t grow taller than 50 metres

4. Indie Blue, 7, asks: how long are the tubes in the human body?

   1. 1.5-2 metres

   2. 6.5-8.5 metres

   3. 10-12.5 metres

   4. 18-20 metres

5. Felix, 7, asks: how do snails stick to leaves when they are upside down?

   1. They can only do it for a little bit before falling off

   2. They pierce a hole in it and attach themselves through the other side

   3. With tiny fingers that grip the leaf

   4. With sticky slime

Solutions

1:A - Butterflies have lots of vibrant colours on their wings for a few reasons. First of all they indicate to predators that the butterfly might be poisonous and yucky to eat. Then the colours also help butterflies to find a mate as they show them off when they are courting!, 2:C - The regal moth has the biggest caterpillar in the world. It is called the hickory horned devil and it can grow up to 15cm long!, 3:C - Space begins at least 80km above the ground, so a tree would have to be able to grow to more than 80km to reach space! Among the tallest trees in the world are redwoods and the tallest living one of these – Hyperion, in Redwood national park, California, US – reaches only 115 metres., 4:B - The tubes in your body that are used for digestion, made up of your small intestine and your large intestine, measure between 6.5 and 8.5 metres. That’s about the length of five bathtubs end to end!, 5:D - Snails produce a sticky mucus that creates suction and allows them to stick to a leaf, even when they are upside down.

Scores

1. 5 and above.

2. 4 and above.

3. 3 and above.

4. 2 and above.

5. 0 and above.

6. 1 and above.

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a weekly podcast answering children’s questions, out now as a book.

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