caterpillar life cycle timeline

This just-hatched caterpillar is the first of five stages of growth called instars. The monarch butterfly like all butterflies goes through 4 main developmental stages.

Butterfly Effect

A monarch grows 2000 times bigger while it is a caterpillar.

. As stated above the painted lady butterfly lives 2 short weeks after reaching adulthood before it dies. Light temperature and humidity all play an important role in determining how long it will take a Monarch to complete its life cycle. Find out about monarch caterpillar stages with pictures and facts.

Approximate length of body at each stage. At the end of this stage a beautiful adult butterfly emerges. The caterpillar is starting to emerge.

There are two caterpillars in the picture below. A monarch is a chrysalis for 8-15 days. The pupation stage lasts approximately 10 to 14 days.

By the fifth and final instar the monarch caterpillar is between 1 and 18 in. The butterflys beautiful orange and black wings appear the day before it is born. Monarchs can grow this much in only two weeks.

It is a mimicry to keep the caterpillars safe from predators. The larval stage of the monarch butterfly life cycle takes from 10 to 14 days. The Life Cycle Of The Monarch Butterfly.

Egg larva the caterpillar stage pupa the chrysalis phase in a butterflys development and adult. For spicebush when it is young it is black with a white stripe in the center resembling a bird dropping. You can find out more about these stages and see pictures of caterpillars in each stage on this page.

As environmental designers say in nature Waste Food or as people long ago before our culture of disposables used to say Waste not want not. In about 9-10 days the pupae which are the chrysalis goes through another stage. Assuming you have a caterpillar now in June I would guess-timate 10 days to 2 weeks as a caterpillar and 10 days to 2 weeks in the chrysalis.

Larva Caterpillar Pupa Chrysalis. And imago adult butterfly. 10-14 days During the pupal stage the transformation from larva to adult is completed.

What many people dont know is that as a caterpillar the monarch also goes through several stages of development. Butterflies and moths have four stages of life. 25 and 45 cm in length.

The caterpillar hatches in about 4 to 10 days and change a lot in appearance as it grows. The Butterfly LarvaeCaterpillar Stage. It takes a Monarch butterfly just 28 to 32 days to complete its life cycle.

The larva which is also the caterpillar has 5 instars over a 2 weeks period or thereabout. Next the hungry caterpillar turns into a chrysalis. After emerging from its shell it eats it.

Caterpillars have long worm-like bodies with 6 true legs.

Monarch Butterfly Lifecycle