Johnny and Jerry Jackson, age 10, of Asheville, N.C., for their question:

How do butterflies cope with the winter?

Insects have been coping with winters for millions of years. Some use one method, some another to make sure that they and their children are around to great the spring. A velvety winged butterfly is too fragile to cope with the long chilly season, which is why we do not see ham around in the winter. The handsome mourning cloak butterfly hibernates, and when the cold weather is broken by a warm spell we sometimes see her fluttering outdoors. The amazing monarch butterfly migrates often hundreds of miles to a mild winter region.

But these butterflies are exceptions. Most adult butterflies perish soon after the mother lays her last brood of eggs of the summer. In some cases the sturdy little eggs wait out the winter and hatch in the spring. In others the eggs hatch and the caterpillars go into the pupa stage in late fall. These sleeping beauties hatch into adult butterflies where spring warms the weather.