Caterpillar

A caterpillar is the larval stage of a butterfly or moth. Its segmented body bears chewing mouthparts and usually several pairs of prolegs.

Ecdysis: The shedding of an animal’s outer covering to permit growth or developmental change. Caterpillars must shed their rigid cuticle as they grow.
Lepidoptera: An insect order comprising moths and butterflies, characterized as adults by scaled wings. Caterpillars are the larvae of insects in this order.
Silkworm: The domesticated larva of the silk moth Bombyx mori, reared for its silk cocoon. Silkworm caterpillars produce the cocoons harvested for silk.
Monarch caterpillar: The larva of the monarch butterfly, which feeds mainly on milkweed. Milkweed compounds make this caterpillar and its adult less palatable to many predators.
Maggot: The soft-bodied larva of a fly, typically legless and lacking a distinct head capsule. Unlike caterpillars, maggots are fly larvae and usually lack thoracic legs.
Instar: A developmental stage between two successive molts in an insect. Each caterpillar stage between molts is an instar.
Larva: An immature animal form that differs from the adult and undergoes further development. Caterpillar names the larval form specific to moths and butterflies.
Gypsy moth: A former common name for Lymantria dispar, an invasive moth whose larvae defoliate trees. Its caterpillars are a major forest pest in parts of the world.
Tent caterpillar: A social moth larva that builds a communal silken tent on trees. Its shared shelter illustrates the collective behavior of some caterpillars.
Grub: A soft-bodied, often C-shaped beetle larva with a distinct head and thoracic legs. Grubs are beetle larvae, not the moth and butterfly larvae called caterpillars.

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