LEARN NC multimedia

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

The world of a butterfly

Gradual change

Although we think of caterpillars changing into butterflies all at once, their development actually is gradual. Here, ten days out of the egg, the larva’s changing structure can be seen.

Photograph by Kathryn Walbert

Thanks to Richard Stickney, Butterfly Curator at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, for his help in developing this slideshow. The text of this page is copyright ©2009. All Rights Reserved. Images and other media may be licensed separately; see captions for more information and read the fine print. | About the photograph