How Do Caterpillars Turn into Butterflies?

A caterpillar goes through an amazing transformation from the time it is hatched until it turns into a beautiful butterfly. This change is called metamorphosis (meh-tuh-MORE-fuh-sus). How does it happen? Let’s find out!

A caterpillar hatches from its egg ready to eat. Its first snack is its eggshell. It grows quickly and must eat a lot! It eats leaves, flowers, and other plant parts.

Eventually, its outer skin layer gets too small for its growing body, so it molts (sheds) the tight skin. Underneath is a new, soft skin that stretches to fit the caterpillar’s still-growing body.

The caterpillar will outgrow this skin, too, and molt. Caterpillars molt several times as they grow and grow—and grow! They can sometimes grow up to 100 times bigger than when they first hatched.

Once the caterpillar is fully grown, it creates a hard shell around itself called a chrysalis (KRI-suh-lus). Inside the shell, the caterpillar’s body parts break down and rearrange, forming a butterfly.

The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is part of God’s amazing design for creation. And just as God created caterpillars to change into something beautiful, when we follow Jesus, he transforms us into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Fun Facts

• All caterpillars will turn into either a butterfly or a moth.
• Butterflies have compound eyes. This means that their eyes are made of thousands of tiny lenses that allow them to see almost all the way around their bodies. Their special eyes also allow them to see ultraviolet light, which is invisible to the human eye.
• Monarch butterflies are toxic to birds.

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