What are the four stages in a butterfly’s complete life cycle?

The four stages in a butterfly’s complete life cycle are egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

A female butterfly lays eggs, usually on or near the specific plant that its caterpillars can eat. The larva, commonly called a caterpillar, spends most of its time feeding and growing. Because its flexible skin cannot expand indefinitely, it molts several times.

The pupa is the transformation stage. In butterflies, it is usually called a chrysalis rather than a cocoon. Inside, larval tissues are reorganized into the adult body, including wings, antennae, compound eyes, and reproductive organs.

The adult emerges with soft, folded wings. After its wings expand and harden, it feeds, mates, and begins the cycle again. Butterflies and moths both undergo complete metamorphosis, while insects such as grasshoppers have an incomplete life cycle with no pupal stage.