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They look like something out of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' picture book, but these stunning images were in fact taken in a Surrey back garden.

The images reveal the dramatic moment a caterpillar emerges into the world, complete with a huge appetite capable of eating its way through its own shell.

The tiny caterpillar is born after ten days, and immediately starts eating in preparation for its dramatic transformation into a majestic butterfly.

Makeover: The beautiful close-ups of an orange-tip butterfly egg, taken by Kim Taylor, reveal how the tiny insect emerges from into the world just like a chicken

The youngster is smaller than a baby's little finger nail but will soon grow into a much bigger caterpillar before it changes into a pupa to enter the next stage of development.

Soon, it will start to chew its way through the developing seed pods of the plant, increasing in size several thousand-fold before changing into a pupa.

A caterpillar will eat the seeds, developing seed pods and flower-heads, with one tiny caterpillar capable of eating up to six garlic mustard seed pods in a day.

Eggs-traordinary: The tiny caterpillar is born after ten days, and immediately starts eating in preparation for its dramatic transformation into a majestic butterfly

Peeking out: As it emerges from its shell, the tiny youngster can be hard to spot as it is smaller than a baby's little finger nail - but it won't stay that way for long

Transformation: The baby caterpillar is seen here emerging from its shell, which it will later eat increasing in size several thousand-fold before changing into a pupa

Dinner time: A caterpillar will eat the seeds, developing seed pods and flower-heads, with one tiny caterpillar capable of eating up to six garlic mustard seed pods in a day

The pupa is the stage in a butterfly's life when it is encased in a chrysalis while it undergoes a dramatic transformation.

It remains dormant through the cool wet autumn and freezing winter months, only to hatch into the beautiful mature butterfly.

Photographer Kim Taylor, from Surrey, captured the sequence last year. He said: 'To photograph a caterpillar emerging from an egg requires special equipment and a fair measure of patience.

'My equipment consisted of a digital camera connected to a microscope objective lens via a home-made bellows.

'The latter was built from aluminium castings made by my son from melted-down saucepans.

'The egg needed strong lighting which was provided by a home-made flash unit with four interconnected heads.'

The Orange-tip is a spring butterfly found in gardens, along hedgerows and roadside verges in area close to water.

Females are white with black wing tips, while the males are more distinctive with white wing tips and a dark spot where the white and orange areas of the fore-wing meet.

Orange-tip butterflies fly between mid-April and mid-June during which time the fully formed butterfly will lay its own eggs to start the process of transformation all over again.

Up close and personal: 'The egg needed strong lighting which was provided by a home-made flash unit with four interconnected heads,' said photographer Kim Taylor

Fully grown: Orange-tip butterflies fly between mid-April and mid-June during which time the female butterfly will lay its own eggs to start the process all over again