How do you know which butterfly a caterpillar is going to grow in to?

Answer 1

Type into Google caterpillar identifier, then click on the first site you see. Fill in the page and at the side you will see some options of what your caterpillar is. Once you have found the name of it type in google 'what butterfly will a ................ turn into?'.

Answer 2

The only surefire way to tell is to look up the species in question in a field guide.

A few tips though would be:

Green-colored caterpillars often, but not always, become butterflies. Furry caterpillars will become moths. Inchworms and other silk-spinning caterpillars are also usually moths.

Answer 3

In most cases, you can tell by the pattern on the wings. However, keep in mind that just like in any other species, each species of butterfly has a lot of variation. Alfalfa butterflies can be either orange or white; eastern tiger swallowtails have a yellow form and an all-black form; question marks look different in the fall than in the spring. Also, there are many species that look incredibly similar. Most people who can recognize a tiger swallowtail would have no idea what subtleties to look at to tell if it is a Canadian tiger swallowtail, eastern tiger swallowtail, western tiger swallowtail, Appalachian tiger swallowtail, or even a two-tailed tiger swallowtail. Where you found the butterfly can sometimes eliminate some possibilities. There are some that look so similar that they cannot be distinguished unless you have information about when, where, and on what plant they were seen. For example, holly azures, cherry gall azures, spring azures, echo azures, northern spring azures, summer azures, and Appalachian azures are all bluish with light undersides and variable patterns of dark spots. The patterns are so variable, that just looking at a picture or specimen it is often impossible to tell which type you have. However, with most of the big, showy, common species, it is possible to get an ID just by matching the wing pattern with a picture in a field guide.

Answer 4

It depends on the type of caterpillar it is!

Answer 5

Well, Caterpillars are different to moths in many ways