What time of the year do caterpillars turn into butterflies?
What time of the year do caterpillars turn into butterflies?
user
It’s dependent on the kind of butterfly, I’m afraid.  If you’d like a general answer, it’s a result of changes in temperature and availability of food.  A caterpillar usually munches on leaves, so when the leaves stop being available, they change to another type of food, like tree sap.  Then it stops munching for a while and hangs out in its pupa, or chrysalis.  And then when the weather gets warm, the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, and flies around looking for food, or a mate, or to lay its eggs.
assistant
What is the process called of it turning into a butterfly?
user
It’s called a metamorphosis, and there are a few different types of metamorphosis.  One type of metamorphosis occurs when a caterpillar makes a chrysalis, which is called an instar, and inside the chrysalis it becomes a pupa, which is called an imago, and then it changes into a butterfly.
assistant
How long does the process usually take?
user