The three states of the caterpillar, larva, and butterfly have, since the time of the Greek poets, been applied to typify the human being,--its terrestrial form, apparent death, and ultimate celestial destination.
Sir Humphry Davy (1870). “Salmonia: Or, Days of Fly Fishing. With Some Account of the Habits of Fishes Belonging to the Genus Salmo”, p.218