Does a butterfly egg have a longer incubation period than a chicken egg?

Answer 1

First, all chickens, regardless of type, have the same incubation time of around 21 days.

I can't speak for all butterflies, but I can tell you about the one that I raise the most of, the Gulf Fritillary. After the egg is laid naked upon a surface, it takes about 4 to 6 days for full development. This is in the active months of summer.

In the late fall, the eggs that are laid do not hatch until spring.

Some butterfly eggs take weeks to hatch. The egg is the easiest way to overwinter. This is called a diapause or resting stage. Some species' eggs are only hatched in the spring, and most of these have been deposited the prior season. The Mourning Cloak lays eggs in the spring which hatch in the summer.

Migrating butterflies have their own rules on egg laying and hatching.

In general, the incubation time on a butterfly egg can take a couple of day or almost an entire year from the creation of an egg to the hatch of the caterpillar.

In a chicken, if you're going to get a chick, once the hen starts warming that egg at 100F, she will have a peeping chick 21 days later, more or less.