It's hard not to be captivated by the fluttery fragile beauty of butterflies and moths. But the caterpillars they start from can be equally captivating.
As you'll see, there are many different types of caterpillars. In fact, the variety of colors, shapes, camouflage markings and predator-repelling armor is truly astounding. They range from gorgeous to garish to downright freaky with horns and stinging spines. What they all have in common, though, is the mind-bending metamorphosis they undergo on their journey from egg to
butterfly or moth (both are members of the insect order Lepidoptera).
Caterpillars represent just one stage of this transformational trek — the larval stage. Their main purpose is to eat and eat and eat some more. If you have a garden, you're probably well aware of the damage these greedy grazers can do.
Indeed, caterpillars munch so much and grow so big during their brief lives that they typically shed their skin several times, often totally revamping their appearance from one slough-off to the next (called instars). Afterwards, butterfly caterpillars molt one final time into a hard chrysalis to begin their magical makeover and moth caterpillars (with a few exceptions) wrap themselves in a silky cocoon. You can learn more about the shape-shifting process in this smart post by
Untamed Science.
Whether you love ID'ing caterpillars in the wild or determining friend from foe in your garden, here's a before-and-after look at some of Mother Nature's most notable species.