An important part of a caterpillar’s survival strategy is to grow rapidly because at this stage of their life-cycle many species are extremely vulnerable to predation and to have the best chance of survival they need to pupate within a short space of time. However, there are species that remain caterpillars for a prolonged length of time, some overwintering and in the case of the Goat moth caterpillar remaining inside the trunk of a tree for several years.
Complete sentence. The comma is used the right way so it wouldnt be a comma splice, and if you replaced the comma with a period it would be wrong, so not a run on. That is why it is a complete sentence
