IELTS Task 1: Life Cycle of a Butterfly (Process Diagram)
The Task
The diagram below illustrates the life cycle of a butterfly. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
↻ Cyclical process — step 4 returns to step 1
- 1Egg: an adult female lays small eggs on the underside of a leaf.
- 2Larva (caterpillar): the egg hatches and the caterpillar feeds and grows, shedding its skin several times.
- 3Pupa (chrysalis): the caterpillar forms a hard protective case and its body transforms over one to two weeks.
- 4Adult butterfly: the case splits open, the butterfly emerges, dries its wings, mates and lays eggs.
Sample Band 8 Response
166 wordsModel answer written by EduForEveryone — for guidance only. Not an official examiner response.
The diagram illustrates the four main stages in the life cycle of a butterfly, a process which is continuous and repeats itself.
Overall, the cycle moves from egg to caterpillar, then to a transforming pupa, and finally to an adult butterfly, which reproduces to begin the sequence again, with the whole process taking roughly four to six weeks.
The cycle begins when an adult female butterfly lays small eggs on the underside of a leaf. After one to two weeks, each egg hatches into a larva, or caterpillar, which then feeds continuously on leaves and grows rapidly, shedding its skin several times as it expands.
Once fully grown, the caterpillar attaches itself to a stem and forms a hard protective case called a pupa, or chrysalis. Inside this case its body is transformed over a further one to two weeks. Finally, the case splits open and an adult butterfly emerges, dries and expands its wings, and eventually mates and lays eggs, thereby starting the cycle anew.