The time as a caterpillar makes a big part of a butterfly’s life. It is the period of feeding and growing.

On this page you get a short information on caterpillars. If you want to know more, click on the pictures.

We have kept several caterpillars at school and got some experience in rearing them.

A caterpillar has six real legs. Normally caterpillars push their body forward in waves. Geometers (Geometridae) have a special way of moving. It looks as if they measured the ground.

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Caterpillars developed several strategies to protect themselves.
Some use camouflage, for example. They look like their surroundings and consequently are hard to see.

Others are brightly colored to warn predators of their poison. Some have hair or thorns. The Common Swallowtail’s (Papilio machaon) appearance is so frightening that it can even scare birds.

A caterpillar’s food usually consists of leaves, but there are moth caterpillars who are feared because of their appetite for textiles. A few even eat caterpillars of their own species.

The caterpillars of the Common Silk Moth (Bombyx mori) have become famous because of their ability to produce silk.

But caterpillars also bring negative aspects for people. Some species can destroy whole harvests as agricultural pests. So many farmers use insecticides to kill them.