Food eaten at this time is stored and used later as an adult. Caterpillars can grow times their size during this stage. For example, a monarch butterfly egg is the size of a pinhead and the caterpillar that hatches from this tiny egg isn't much bigger.
But it will grow up to 2 inches long in several weeks. When the caterpillar is full grown and stops eating, it becomes a pupa. The pupa of butterflies is also called a chrysalis.
Depending on the species, the pupa may suspended under a branch, hidden in leaves or buried underground. The pupa of many moths is protected inside a coccoon of silk. This stage can last from a few weeks, a month or even longer. Some species have a pupal stage that lasts for two years.
It may look like nothing is going on but big changes are happening inside. Special cells that were present in the larva are now growing rapidly. They will become the legs, wings, eyes and other parts of the adult butterfly. Many of the original larva cells will provide energy for these growing adult cells. The adult stage is what most people think of when they think of butterflies.
They look very different from the larva. The caterpillar has a few tiny eyes, stubby legs and very short antennae. How does a caterpillar rearrange itself into a butterfly?
What happens inside a chrysalis or cocoon? First, the caterpillar digests itself, releasing enzymes to dissolve all of its tissues. If you were to cut open a cocoon or chrysalis at just the right time, caterpillar soup would ooze out. But the contents of the pupa are not entirely an amorphous mess. Certain highly organized groups of cells known as imaginal discs survive the digestive process. Before hatching, when a caterpillar is still developing inside its egg, it grows an imaginal disc for each of the adult body parts it will need as a mature butterfly or moth—discs for its eyes, for its wings, its legs and so on.
In some species, these imaginal discs remain dormant throughout the caterpillar's life; in other species, the discs begin to take the shape of adult body parts even before the caterpillar forms a chrysalis or cocoon. Some caterpillars walk around with tiny rudimentary wings tucked inside their bodies, though you would never know it by looking at them.
Once a caterpillar has disintegrated all of its tissues except for the imaginal discs, those discs use the protein-rich soup all around them to fuel the rapid cell division required to form the wings, antennae, legs, eyes, genitals and all the other features of an adult butterfly or moth. The imaginal disc for a fruit fly's wing, for example, might begin with only 50 cells and increase to more than 50, cells by the end of metamorphosis.
Depending on the species, certain caterpillar muscles and sections of the nervous system are largely preserved in the adult butterfly. This shell can take many forms and shapes depending on the species of butterfly. Once the caterpillar is firmly in place the exoskelton will split off exposing the pupa.
In the case of the Black Swallowtail the final chrysalis will be either green or brown depending on whether the caterpillar is pupating on a green stem or a brown stick. Most butterfly species will stay in the chrysalis for about weeks before the butterfly emerges. Several species overwinter as a pupa and will thus enter diapause in the Fall and stay as a pupa until Spring when the butterfly emerges. When a butterfly emerges from a chrysalis its wings are crumpled.
The butterfly will hang with its wings down and will begin pumping the wings full of fluids from their body to straighten them out. Then the butterfly must wait several hours for the wings to harden and dry before it can fly away. The lifespan of most adult butterflies is about weeks but this can vary greatly among species. Species that over winter as adults such as Monarchs will live for many months this is only true for the last generation Monarchs each summer that is migrating.
In their lifespan the female adults butterflies must find a mate and the right plants on which to lay their eggs to begin the butterfly life cycle all over again. Following and exploring the life cycle of a butterfly is a great source of entertainment and education!
Please spend some time on our website to learn more about attracting and raising these beautiful creatures. Newsletter for butterfly tips, sales, new products, coupons and more!
Email Address. Remember me Log in.
0コメント