Free Printable Caterpillars Coloring Pages

These caterpillars coloring pages will be a great activity for the kids to do at home or even at school! Keep them entertained and busy with these fun printables!

FUN FACTS ABOUT CATERPILLARS

You’ve almost certainly seen and handled a caterpillar in your life, but how much do you know about Lepidopteran larvae? These fascinating facts about caterpillars will make you appreciate what amazing creatures they are. Here is a list of fun facts about caterpillars:

Caterpillars only have six true legs – Caterpillars appear to have many legs, but since they are insects, only six are actual legs. The remaining legs are prolegs, or “fake legs.” The prolegs’ ends include small hooks that aid with walking and climbing.
They eat a lot – Caterpillars start feeding as soon as they emerge from their egg. A caterpillar can grow to reach 100 times its size after it emerges from its egg before pupating.
Caterpillars drool out silk for a cocoon – The salivary (spit) glad produces the silk needed to construct a cocoon. The liquid silk is drooled out of a hole on the caterpillar’s lip called the spinneret. Silk becomes harder when exposed to air.
This insect doesn’t have lungs – Caterpillars breathe through a trachea connected to a spiracle on each side of each body segment. Air is forced into the trachea and carbon dioxide is expelled out as the caterpillar travels.
Caterpillars move like no other animal – No other animal has the crawling motion of a caterpillar, which is like a wave traveling from back to front.
They don’t have teeth – Caterpillars have mandibles that resemble teeth. Instead of chewing up and down like humans, they chew from side to side.

HOW DO I IDENTIFY A CATERPILLAR?

Caterpillars are the youngest form of butterflies and moths, yet they might look like worms, centipedes, or millipedes. Fortunately, you can recognize a caterpillar based on its physical characteristics, actions, colors, and markings. You can even locate a specific caterpillar species if you know how it looks and where it lives.

It’s a caterpillar if it has a long, tube-shaped body in small rounded segments. You can also tell by its legs. On the thorax, which lies directly behind the head, there should be three sets of two legs, for a total of six. At the middle and end of the caterpillar’s abdomen, look for up to four extra sets of legs.

INTERESTING BOOKS ABOUT CATERPILLARS

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – this board book is the perfect size for kids ages 1 to 3 years old. This is a great book to use for teaching how to count and also the days of the week.
The Backyard Bug Book for Kids: Storybook, Insect Facts, and Activities – this is a fun and educational book for kids 3 to 5 years of age. The book teaches kids lots of interesting things about bugs.
Out of Nowhere – this is a great picture book for the older kids, 4 to 8 years old. It is about a friendship between a beetle and a caterpillar.

FREE PRINTABLE CATERPILLARS COLORING PAGES

Have fun checking out this big variety of caterpillars coloring pages. Keep scrolling to find all sorts of fun and cute printables for you or your kids.

A big thank you to the generous bloggers who are providing these worksheets at no cost to us.