Butterflies are insects in the order of Lepidoptera. Most have two pairs of wings. Lepidoptera, which also includes moths, is the largest order of insects next to Coleoptera, the beetles. It's not always easy to tell the difference between butterflies and moths, but, typically, butterflies fly during the day and most moths are nocturnal. Also, all butterflies have knoblike clubs at the tips of their antennae while moths do not.
Butterflies develop through complete metamorphosis.
After mating, females lay eggs on a blade of grass or leaf, most often on a plant that will serve as food for the larva, or caterpillars, which the eggs hatch into. Following the caterpillar stage, a winged adult emerges. A number of resident species of are familiar to many of us. Scientists have found that the large group of fritillary butterflies take more than two winters of hibernation as larva before pupating into a caterpillar and shortly afterward into an adult. Alpine fritillaries, recognized by the orange and black pattern on the upper part of their wing, have been found on rocky slopes as high as 9,000 feet elevation.