Caterpillars
Caterpillars (butterfly larvae) hatch from
butterfly eggs.
Caterpillars are insects. There are many
different types of caterpillars.
Caterpillars have long thin bodies that are
divided into 13 segments. The head is at the front. Caterpillars have twelve
tiny eyes, six on each side of their head. They have eight pairs of legs.
The five back pairs are called false legs or prolegs. Prolegs are soft
and have small hooks on the tips of them to help the caterpillar cling
on to leaves or stems. The caterpillar's front three pairs of legs are
called true legs. They can bend and have claws at the end for holding on
to food.
Bill's
Lepidoptera Photos
http://www.geocities.com/~billhark/menu.html
Some caterpillars eat the leaves and stems
of plants. Others eat grass, roots, flowers, fruit and even wood. They
have very strong jaws.
Caterpillars live on the plants that they
eat. They are found in gardens, along side of the road, in parks, in bushland
and in forests.
Caterpillars spend much of their time eating.
They grow very quickly. It only takes four or five weeks for them to grow
to their full size. The caterpillar's skin does not stretch very much.
When they become too big for their skin, it splits and a new skin has grown
underneath the old one. Caterpillars shed their skins several times. When
they are fully grown the skin will split for the last time and it starts
to change into a pupa.
