It is amazing that caterpillars turn into butterflies, and it is even more amazing to understand how caterpillars turn into butterflies. The caterpillar to butterfly metamorphosis is one of the great wonders of nature, so below we explain exactly how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, going through several stages called ‘instars’, as well as situate this transformation in the larger life cycle of butterflies.

We recently received a question through the All About Worms Facebook page about what we suspect to be some sort of caterpillar turning into a butterfly. The caterpillar, if it is a caterpillar, was evidently found in a dead tree stump, although the pictures our reader sent (included below) don’t appear to depict a dead tree stump. The creature is yellow – or rather it is a yellowish, off-white color – and has a plump, segmented body (a body that might be protecting the caterpillar as it turns into a butterfly, if this indeed what is happening). What is the yellow caterpillar on the dead tree stump, and could it be turning into a butterfly (or moth)?