system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Do caterpillars need to become butterflies? Could one go it's entire life as a caterpillar without changing?
gpt
Insects go through stages culminating in the final “imago”, the adult insect that is distinguished by its precursor stages in that only it can reproduce.  
So caterpillars can totally live a long, full life of caterpillary wholesomeness, but they can’t have descendants until they transform into a butterfly or moth.  
  
Realistically speaking, in most species the vast majority of larvae get eaten by something bigger long before they reach adulthood, and those who make it are the rare exception. So in a way, many caterpillars actually do live their whole life in the larva stage, never growing up... but probably not in the way you imagined.