![]() This caterpillar MOLTS again, and the result is a THIRD INSTAR caterpillar. The second instar caterpillar continues to eat and grow, until it is once again too big for the skin it is in. After the caterpillar has molted for the first time, it is referred to as a SECOND INSTAR, and it has some room to grow. Then, when it is ready, it "sheds" the old skin, and the newer, larger skin underneath is exposed. This second instar caterpillar may look funny, but this is because it is beginning to molt! The skin around its head, referred to as a "head capsule" has already separated from the caterpillar.Ĭaterpillars (and all insects) face a challenge as they grow! Unfortunately, their skin cannot grow with them! In order for a caterpillar to grow larger than the skin it had when it hatched, it must make a new, larger skin! The caterpillar does this by first growing a new skin underneath the outer skin. ![]() Other species of caterpillars immediately begin eating the tender, small parts of leaves. A caterpillar has only one job: to eat! Many species of caterpillars begin their feast by eating their egg shell, which contains plenty of nutrients. When a butterfly or moth larva (also known as a caterpillar) first hatches from its egg, it is very small! This young caterpillar is referred to as a FIRST INSTAR caterpillar. This photograph is a picture of a first instar caterpillar of the butterfly species Papilio polytes (the Common Mormon). This particular plant that a caterpillar must have is called the HOST PLANT for that species of butterfly (or moth). Female butterflies are very picky about where they lay their eggs! This is because caterpillars are very picky about what they will eat! Each species of butterfly will only eat a single plant (or group of closely related plants) as caterpillars. Some butterflies lay their eggs in clusters, and some butterflies lay their eggs on the upper surface of the leaf.Įvery butterfly begins its life as an EGG. Swallowtail females typically lay only one egg on a leaf, but each species of butterfly has its own particular "style" of laying eggs. This photograph shows a swallowtail egg on the bottom surface of a citrus leaf. Below is a description of each life stage, as well as photographs showing each stage in the life cycle of Papilio polytes, the Common Mormon Butterfly. The stages of their life cycle include: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. ![]() Butterflies and moths go through a life cycle known as complete metamorphosis. ![]()
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