Main Entry: lep·i·dop·ter·an <javascript:popWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?lepido03.wav=lepidopteran')> <javascript:popWin('/cgi-bin/audio.pl?lepido03.wav=lepidopteran')>
Pronunciation: -r&n
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin Lepidoptera, from lepid- + Greek pteron wing -- more at FEATHER <dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=feather>
Date: circa 1901
: any of a large order (Lepidoptera) of insects comprising the butterflies, moths, and skippers that as adults have four broad or lanceolate wings usually covered with minute overlapping and often brightly colored scales and that as larvae are caterpillars

Keiva: I didn't mean to imply that the cocoon and chrysalis were synonymous--just related. But I'll look at little more into which of the lepidopterans spins a cocoon... I seem to recall having read about some important differences between the moth and flutterby...

OK...here's what I found:

After several weeks the caterpillar prepares to enter the pupal stage. The butterflies attach themselves to a firm support, shed their exoskeleton and become a chrysalis. Moth and skipper caterpillars cover themselves with silk (forming a protective cocoon), shed their exoskeleton and pupate. The chrysalis stage may last several weeks -- during which time the body of the caterpillar is broken down and slowly reformed into the body of an adult butterfly. The pupae inside the cocoons of moths generally spend the winter in the cocoon before completing their transformation the following spring


http://members.aol.com/YESbutrfly/lifecycle.html