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A butterfly lays eggs on the leaves of a plant. Within 4-10 days of being laid on the leaf, the caterpillar comes out of egg. -
The larvae (caterpillar) feeds on his egg shell within 24-36 hours after leaving egg shell, and then begins to feed on leaves. Since the caterpillar is growing so much and so fast that it sheds its skin in order to eat more; this is called "molting". -
The caterpillar continues to eat leaves for 10-12 days, in turn the caterpillar continues to molt. Life Cycle Animation -
12-24 hours after the caterpillar is full from eating all the leaves it begins a pre-pupa stage. At this stage the caterpillar will bend its back to start creating its cocoon. -
Here the caterpillar is beginning to form its cocoon. They begin at their head and go all the way up to its feet. The process to create the cocoon "Chrysalis" takes about 5 minutes to create. -
The caterpillar's body will change while in the chrysalis and be reorganized into the shape of a butterfly. Here the caterpillar must be very still in order to not be eaten by predators. The caterpillar will stay in here for 10-12 days. -
On the last day of the butterfly being inclosed in their chrysalis (cocoon), they will take a total of about 3 minutes to get out. -
After the butterfly has fully escaped the chrysalis they will dry their wings from the wet fluid that was contained in their cocoon. At this time they will simply hold onto the branch and spread their wings open to air dry. This process takes between 2-4 hours. -
The butterfly can now fly around and help pollinate flowers. They do this when they land on a flower and drink the nectar, the pollen attaches to them and they spread the pollen throughout as they fly around. -
Learn to draw a butterfly here An average butterfly will live anywhere between 2-6 weeks.