Butterflies go through four life stages.
You can identify the female because her webbing is thicker and she has no identifying wing spot as does the male. Once the caterpillar has hatched from the egg, it will eat and grow until it reaches its full size. At that point, it enters the third or pupal stage. The caterpillar forms a structure called a chrysalis in which it will transform into an adult - a butterfly. This is the fourth and final stage.