Caterpillar 🐛 turn into a butterfly 🦋

The formation of caterpillar to butterfly is miracle, but how does the process actually work, Today We know about this. A caterpillar transformation into a butterfly has long fascinated humans: the metamorphosis of a crawling land based insect into an airborne fairy is the perfect metaphor for change. But at its core has a biological urge: the need to eat and grow in safety, then and only then to disperse.

Eating Machine:

After caterpillars hatch from eggs, they turn into greedy little eating machines. All they want to do is eat, eat, eat. They eat so much that they grow too large for their own bodies, and they need to shed, or molt, their skin, just like a snake. Some caterpillars have tiny bristles or hairs to defend themselves against predators, either as a sort of armor or to inject venom.

Metamorphosis:

Once a caterpillar has eaten its fill, it finds a nice little hook on a branch somewhere (hopefully out of reach of curious children). It hangs itself upside down from the branch and does one of two things, depending on the species. It’ll either wrap itself tight in a silky cocoon

Dissolving:

When the larva is tucked neatly away in its cocoon or chrysalis, that’s when the magic starts. Enzymes are released and literally dissolve almost the entire larva into a nutrient soup without the nervous system, the breathing tubes, and the imaginal disks.

Now that the imaginal disks are free, they start to rebuild the bug. The disks move to the correct positions. Very slowly, the new insect starts to take shape.

Transformation:

By the time the transformation is complete, the new butterfly is fully formed within its cocoon or chrysalis. It then hatches for the second time in its life. The new bug will pause to get its bearings and test its new body; its wings and antenna unfurl and harden. Then, it’s off into the air to start its new life!