In this Scientific American article (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/insect-metamorphosis-evolution/), the author claims, citing Darwin, that a German naturalist named Renous was arrested for claiming that caterpillars turn into butterflies. This supposedly happened in the 1830s!
Are there any historical documents which refer to the fact that butterflies come from caterpillars that predate the 19th century?
In the article you linked it mentions the ancient Egyptians knew grubs and worms developed into insects, though it gives no source. The article later mentions observations published by William Harvey and then by Jan Swammerdam. These publications were in the 1600s. But Aristotle described "river worms developing into gadflies" and made other descriptions of metamorphosis in 350 BCE.