Page 39 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY

CATERPILLARS

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The order Lepidoptera includes around 160,000
species, of which fewer than 12 percent—just under

19,000 species in the superfamily Papilionoidea—are

classified as butterfly species. This chapter describes
246 butterfly caterpillars from six of the seven
Papilionoidea families: Papilionidae, Hesperiidae,
Pieridae, Riodinidae, Lycaenidae, and Nymphalidae.
Butterfly species are largely distinguished from moth

species by adult features, such as the structure of
the antennae and the way the wings are held at rest. The
larvae can look much like those of moths but rarely spin
cocoons, as many moth caterpillars do.

All Papilionidae caterpillars have forked organs
(osmeteria) on the prothoracic segment, which they
evert to produce an unpleasant odor if the larvae are
threatened. Most Hesperiidae larvae have large heads,
and many build leaf shelters. Pieridae species, which

include the notorious “whites” that feed on cruciferous
vegetables, have distinctively angled pupae with a
silk girdle at the first abdominal segment. Riodinidae

species, native to South America and southern areas of

North America, are similar to those of Lycaenidae but
lack a “honey gland,” which Lycaenidae caterpillars use
to attract and appease ants. The larvae of Nymphalidae,
the largest butterfly family with more than 6,000 species

and a dozen subfamilies, are, however, highly variable.