It depends on what type of butterfly you are talking about.
Well, depending on the species, the time a catapillar stays in its cacoon varies. Some could take as little as two weeks, others two month.
A butterfly only lives for about 1 month.
2012 years
the four stages of a complete metamorphosis in order are egg,larva,pupa,and the adult
Egg--Larvae--Pupa--Adult
3-8 months.
butterfly
Actually there's five: egg *caterpillar *Chrysalis *Adult emerges *Adult/ butterfly
A butterfly goes through four stages of development: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult butterfly. The egg hatches into a caterpillar that eats and grows, then it forms a chrysalis where it undergoes metamorphosis into an adult butterfly. The adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, ready to continue the life cycle by finding a mate and laying eggs.
Tree weeks.
There is no such thing as a baby butterfly, they are born as adults. here is the way it works. A Butterfly lays eggs, these eggs hatch into caterpillar's, the caterpillars seal themselves into pupa or chrysalis inside of which they grow into an adult butterfly, when the time is right an adult butterfly breaks out of the pupa/chrysalis a lot like a chick coming from an egg and you have an adult butterfly ready to mate with other butterfly's that lay eggs once again. The closest thing to a baby butterfly will be the Caterpillar.
Monarch butterflies go through a four stage development cycle in their lifespans. The four stages of the monarch butterfly are the egg, the caterpillar or larvae, the chrysalis or pupa, and the butterfly.
The adult butterfly lays her eggs, caterpillars (larvae) hatch and eat until they are ready to become a chrysalis (pupa). The adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. Most species (in warm weather) will be an egg for 3-5 days, a caterpillar from 2-4 weeks, a chrysalis for 1-2 weeks, and an adult butterfly for 2-4 weeks.
A butterfly doesn't change into anything, it's the 'end product' of its life cycle. Insect life cycles have four stages; egg, larva, pupa and winged adult. A butterfly's larva is the caterpillar, the pupa is the chrysalis, and the adult is the butterfly itself! :)