Holometabolism, also called complete metamorphism, is a term applied to insect groups to describe the specific kind of insect development which includes four life stages - as an embryo, a larva, a pupa and an imago. For example, in the life cycle of a butterfly, the embryo grows within the egg, hatching into the larval stage caterpillar, before entering the pupal stage within its chrysalis and finally emerging as an adult butterfly imago.

The superorder Endopterygota groups holometabolic insects. Orders in the superorder are :

Coleoptera - Beetles

Diptera - Flies

Hymenoptera - Ants, bees, sawflies and wasps

Lepidoptera - Butterflies and moths

Mecoptera - Scorpionflies

Megaloptera - Alderflies, dobsonflies and fishflies

Miomoptera ''(extinct)''

Neuroptera - Lacewings, dobsonflies, etc.

Protodiptera ''(extinct)''

Raphidioptera - Snakeflies

Siphonaptera - Fleas

Strepsiptera - Twisted-winged parasites

Trichoptera - Caddisflies