Are Catepillars the same species as butterflys?
There are almost 15,000 different species of butterfly and 185,000 species of moth around the world, all of which begin life as an egg, from which a catepillar (the larva) hatches. The catepillar is of the same species as the butterfly it will turn into, in the same way that a human embryo, foetus and baby are the same species as the adult they will become. For example, a Marsh Fritillary catepillar will turn into a Marsh Fritillary butterfly. Its not unusual for living things to start life in a different form – for example frogspawn hatches as tadpoles and grows into frogs, maggots grow into flies and many species of fish look different in the larval stage of development.
