Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidoptera clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Butterflies are beautiful, flying insects with large scaly wings. Just like all the insects, even butterflies have six jointed legs, three body parts, a pair of antennae, compound eyes, and an exoskeleton. All butterflies have complete metamorphosis. As the butterfly life cycle diagram shows, to grow into an adult go through four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Each stage of the butterfly life cycle stage has a different goal, for instance, caterpillars need to eat a lot, and adults need to reproduce. Depending on the type of butterfly, the life cycle of the insect may take anywhere from one month to a whole year.