The caterpillar will increase up to several thousand times in size before pupating. Adult - A beautiful, flying adult emerges. This adult will continue the cycle. A caterpillar's first meal, however, is its own eggshell. This proboscis uncoils to sip food, and coils up again into a spiral when not in use.
Most butterflies live on nectar from flowers.
Most butterfly species, however, are found in tropical areas, especially tropical rainforests. Butterfly migration is not well understood. These scaled wings are different from the wings of any other insects. There are about 28,000 butterfly species worldwide, the rest are moths. The earliest butterfly fossils are from the early Cretaceous period , about 130 million years ago.