Metamorphosis of the Butterfly
All photos and text
Copyright 2007
Kris Light
http://easttennesseewildflowers.com
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Metamorphosis:
• Means - to “change shape”
• Begins with an egg
• Takes place in insects and amphibians
• Can be complete or incomplete
Egg Larva Pupa Adult
Egg Nymph Adult
Egg Tadpole Adult
Complete Metamorphosis
Incomplete Metamorphosis
Butterflies
• Butterflies go through “complete
metamorphosis”. They
have 4 phases.Theylay their eggs on
specific types of leaves which will be food for
the caterpillars. They touch leaves with their
feet to taste-test them
before laying the eggs. Gulf Fritillary Butterfly layingher egg on a leaf
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The Egg
• The caterpillar inside the egg will develop in just over a week. Shortly before the caterpillar hatches, the top of the egg will turn black (that is the caterpillar’s head).
• Some insects overwinter as an egg and hatch in the spring when food becomes available. Monarch egg
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The caterpillar hatches!
• This tiny, 2 millimeter-long caterpillar has just hatched from its egg. The first food it ate was the egg shell (good protein!), then it began to eat the tiny hairs on the bottom of the milkweed leaf.
• Caterpillars are the “eating phase” of butterfly’s lifecycle. This little monarch will gain 3000 times its hatching weight and grow up to 50 mm just before it becomes a chrysalis!
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The caterpillar grows
LARGER
• For 2 weeks the caterpillar eats and poops a lot!
• As it grows it sheds its skin 4 times
• The bright colors of the Monarch caterpillar warn birds and other predators that it is poisonous; a bird will get sick if it eats one of these!
• Monarch caterpillars have “feelers” called whiplasheson both ends. They have small simple eyes that can detect light from dark.
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Getting ready for a big
change! • On its last day as a
caterpillar, it climbs to a secure spot and spins a silk mat. It then hooks its last prolegs into the mat and hangs head down in the shape of a “J”. It will hang like this for about 12 hours. As it pulls air into its body through holes in the abdomen called spiracles, the skin loosens and it begins to split behind the head.
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Pupation – a time of
transformation• When the skin finally
pops off, the jade-green chrysalis is left in its place. The caterpillar’s body becomes a soupy mix of cells that will change into a butterfly within 14 days. The wings are just barely visible in the black chrysalis, the butterfly will soon emerge!
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It’s time for the butterfly to
emerge!• It takes only a
couple of minutes
for the butterfly to
emerge from the
confines of the
chrysalis but it may
take up to 2 hours
before it can fly.
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The butterfly is ready to fly!
A Male Monarch Butterfly has a spot on his lower wings,a female doesn’t.
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Moth caterpillars become a
cocoon when they pupate• Moth caterpillars
spin a silk cocoon around themselves and shed their larval skin inside the cocoon.
• The moth may over-winter in this phase because it doesn’t eat as a pupa.
Acrea moth cocoons
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Other Butterflies
Buckeye Viceroy Red-spotted Purple
Tiger SwallowtailBaltimore Checkerspot
Question Mark
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Moths
Moths are usually
nocturnal, but can
fly during the day.
some are well
camouflaged, others
flash bright underwings
when threatened.
HummingbirdClearwing
Blinded Sphinx Luna Moth
Tiger Moth Io moth
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Caterpillars
Io moth Monarch ButterflyCase-bearer moth
Tobacco HornwormMoth
Inchworm MothMilkweed Moth
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End of Presentation
http://EastTennesseeWildflowers.com
Kris Light ([email protected])
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