The illustration below represents stages in the lifespan of a butterfly. Overall, there are 4 distinct stages involved in the process, beginning with the female butterfly laying its eggs on the plant and finishing with the adult butterflies mating.
The process commences with the mother butterfly laying her eggs on a plant, with each egg containing an embryo. Next, the embryo takes about two to three weeks to undergo its development stage, which then hatches into a caterpillar.
Regarding the other stages, the caterpillars shed their old skin to grow bigger, reaching the standard size after two months. Once they have completed the caterpillar’s step, they are going to enter the most important stage of their life to transform into a butterfly, which means the caterpillars generate a pupa wrapping around their body. Subsequently, the caterpillars stay in the pupa for two weeks until later the metamorphosis happens, when they successfully transform into a butterfly and escape from the pupa. Afterwards, the butterfly develops into an adult and mates with its opposite gender. At this phrase, the cycle begins all over again.
