About this page
"Caterpillar" is most commonly used to refer to the larva or immature form of Butterflies and sometimes moths. Here I include in the term other insect larva which superficially resemble those of butterflies and moths. There are ten insect orders which undergo complete metamorphosis. Three of them have "caterpillar like" larva: Coleoptera (beetles), Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), and Hymenoptera (Sawflies but not Wasps, Ants or Bees). The other orders have larva which are aquatic, more similar to the adults, or legless like maggots.
Caterpillars have three pairs of legs. Caterpillars of Butterflies and Moths may also have up to five pairs of shorter "prolegs". Sawfly larva have six or more pairs of prolegs. Beetle larva have no prolegs.
Caterpillars have up to five growth stages, shedding their skin between each stage. The stages may look quite different, in which case multiple thumbnails on this page may belong to the same species.
The photos here are all of Caterpillars feeding on on leaves, apart from the last two which feed on Lichen. Leaf feeders specialize in a particular type of plant and often a particular genus of plants, so the thumbnails on this page are arranged primarily by host plant rather than by insect order. The thumbnails link to a page with a larger photo, which may in turn link to a page with photos of various life stages (immature and adult) of the species, if they exist on this site.