The reproduction process of the butterfly begins with two adults courting and then mating. After mating is complete, the female searches for a location to lay her eggs. It is essential that she finds a place where an appropriate food plant for her larvae is available. Females lay their eggs singly or in groups directly on the underside of the leaf or on the stem of the food plant. Butterfly eggs vary in color, but most intend to be white, green, or yellow, and then change color as the larva develops inside.
Most butterflies experience five instars over a period of three to six weeks.
Each time the caterpillar grows bigger, it sheds its skin in a process called molting. After the fifth molting, the caterpillar is usually full grown. It then stops eating and searches for an acceptable place to pupate. It either spins a silken web to fasten the pupa on a firm base or a silken girdle to support the pupa from a stem or a twig. About ten days later, or the next spring for those that hibernate in the winter as pupae, the adult emerges, starting the cycle over.