Let's face it.

Butterflies get all the glory, fluttering around with their flashy looks.

But caterpillars?

They're more than just an awkward adolescent phase.

They do all the hard work, so that one day they can look like this.

As adults, butterflies really only have one job: mating.

They're basically flying reproduction machines, powered by sugar water.

Their proboscis is made for sipping nectar.

But that liquid diet doesn't give them much of the protein they need to make eggs.

So that hungry, hungry caterpillar has a big job to do.

It's not just eating for itself.

It's stockpiling the protein it will need later on to make the next generation.

It starts by eating its way out of the egg.

No leftovers.

Then it's onto the main course.

These pipevine swallowtail caterpillars are chowing down on their favorite - and only - food: the pipevine.

For a monarch caterpillar, it's all about the milkweed.

In two weeks they'll grow 20 times longer.

That's like a human baby growing as tall as a three-story building.

A caterpillar can't see very well.

So it uses antennae to smell for food.

Not those big ones on top - those are for feeling around.

It's the tiny ones right down there.

It eats and eats and eats... storing up as much protein as possible.

Leaves are about one quarter protein.

After packing on the pounds for a couple of weeks, this monarch caterpillar is finally ready for the big day.

It weaves a ball of silk on a branch.

Then, it hooks onto it - with its backside.

And lets go.

Look through its skin.

There's something wiggling in there.

The caterpillar pumps and pushes.

Until... it splits open... shedding all traces of its youth... including its face.

The outer skin hardens into the chrysalis that protects the pupa inside.

Its stomach shrinks.

It's giving up its gluttonous ways.

When the butterfly emerges days later, it uncurls its brand new proboscis - two pieces called galeae that have to be zipped together into a single straw before the butterfly can use it.

And it lets those glorious wings unfold.

They'll take it to find mates and a juicy new plant to lay its eggs on, using that stored up protein.

This complete metamorphosis is called holometaboly.

Multiple lives in a single life.

It takes a lot of work.

And butterflies only live a few weeks.

But this strategy is not as rare as you might think.

In the animal kingdom, it's incredibly common.

Mammals like us are the weird ones.

After all, our face doesn't fall off when we grow up.

Hey!

It's Lauren.

Can you spot the chrysalises hanging on this branch?

They need that camouflage.

Otherwise they'd be sitting ducks for predators.

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