The picture illustrates how the butterfly goes through its life cycle.
The process involves 4 stages, beginning with the deposition of eggs and ending with the emergence of a fully-grown butterfly, which in turn reproduces eggs and restarts the cycle.
To begin with, after mating, the female butterfly lays eggs on leaves of a suitable plant. During the next 2-3 weeks, the embryo in each egg takes nutrition and develops into a caterpillar.
In the third stage, which occurs about 2 months, the caterpillar grows and shed its skin because of the increasing size of its body. It then creates a wrapped-up package called chrysalis, where it undergoes the metamorphosis. During the fourth stage, the larva experiences dramatic physical changes before breaking out of the pupa. After that, the adult butterfly undergoes mating to lay eggs and continue the life cycle.