Butterfly Terminology

Learn some of the basic butterfly terminology that you’ll encounter at the Coffs Harbour Butterfly House.

abdomen: One of the three main parts of an insects body. It’s the rear end.
antennae: Feeler-like appendages located on insects’ heads above their mouth.
caterpillar: The larval stage of a butterfly.
chrysalis: The outer covering of a butterfly pupa. Often, the term chrysalis is used to refer to the pupa itself.
compound eye: An eye with many elements, common in insects, in which each element is visible as a hexagonal facet.
cremaster: A structure, much like a hook, on the rear of a chyrsalis, which helps to secure the chrysalis to a leaf, twig, etc.
host plant: The plant used for food by a specific species. Butterflies typically lay their eggs on the host plant used by the caterpillar. A single species of butterfly may use one or several species of plants as host plants.
instar: Individual growth stage of a caterpillar. Instars are separated by moults.
larva (pl. larvae): The immature stage of an insect which goes through complete metamorphosis, between the egg and pupa stages. In butterflies the larval stage is a called a caterpillar.
proboscis: A biological term typically used to describe a long, flexible feeding structure. In butterflies it is the long coiled tube through which they feed.
prolegs: A false leg, used in locomotion, found on the abdominal segment of a caterpillar. A caterpillar has five pairs of prolegs. Caterpillars, like other insects, have only six true legs, and these arise from the thorax (or thoracic segments).
pupa (pl. pupae): The stage between juvenile and adult forms of an insect. In butterflies, the pupa is encased by a chrysalis. Typically this stage (the pupal stage) is immobile and does not feed, however complete reconstruction is taking place internally.
pupate: To become a pupa.
thorax: One of the three main regions comprising an insect. It is located between the head and the abdomen and is where the legs and/or wings are attached.