Finished drawing of a swallowtail caterpillar

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How to Draw a Swallowtail Caterpillar

13 steps · Tricky · about 10 min

Draw a swallowtail caterpillar in 13 steps, about 10 minutes. Free, with a printable worksheet.

Each picture adds one red line. Draw that line, then scroll to the next picture. Rub out any dashed helper lines at the end. First up: the head.

Step 1: The head
On the left of your paper, draw a big round head. Leave room on the right for the long body.
Step 2: Two big eyes
Across the middle of the head, draw 2 big egg eyes, each with a black dot. Leave them white.
Step 3: Smile and cheeks
Under the eyes, draw a wide smile: a flat line with a U under it. Add 2 round cheeks.
Step 4: The big hump
Behind the head, draw a BIG round hump, taller than the head. Add a smaller round bump behind it.
Tip The hump is bigger than the head: a fat swollen chest.
Step 5: Three more bumps
Keep going: draw 3 more bumps behind the last one, each a little smaller, nearly to the right edge.
Step 6: Tiny legs
Under each bump, draw 2 tiny stubby legs with little round feet, all the way along.
Step 7: A big leaf
Under the feet, draw a long flat leaf, pointed at both ends. Add a middle line from tip to tip.
Tip The leaf is long and flat like a boat; the feet stand on it.
Step 8: Forked horn
On top of the hump, draw a little forked horn: 2 curved prongs from one spot, like a Y.
Tip Swallowtail caterpillars pop out this orange horn when they are scared.
Step 9: Spots and bands
On the hump, draw 2 small oval spots, one high and one low. Draw a band across each bump.
Tip Real swallowtail caterpillars use their spots to scare hungry birds away.
Step 10: Yellow spots, orange horn
Colour the 2 spots yellow. Colour the forked horn and the round cheeks orange.
Step 11: Light green body
Colour the head, hump and bumps light green, around the spots, cheeks and bands. Colour the mouth red.
Step 12: Green legs
Colour all 10 tiny legs light green, the same as the bumps.
Step 13: Slate bands, dark leaf
Colour every band dark slate grey and the leaf dark green, around the feet. Go over your lines.