Page 20 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

RIGHT Caterpillars
of the Arctiinae
subfamily spin their
own hairs into a
cocoon held together
by silk. This helps
to protect the pupa
within by making
access more difficult
for parasitoids. Fluff
around the exit hole
on the left shows that
here the moth has
already eclosed.
THE MIRACLE

OF METAMORPHOSIS

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Perhaps the most celebrated trait of Lepidoptera is their capacity to

metamorphose—changing their body structure and appearance so
completely that larvae and adults look as if they are two quite separate
species. While most insects metamorphose, some practice “incomplete
metamorphosis,” with no pupal stage; larvae hatch from eggs and are

BELOW At pupation, usually a miniature version of the adult. Insects undergoing complete
lichen moth
caterpillars of the metamorphosis, which also include beetles, flies, and wasps, are considered
Cyana genus weave
meshwork baskets more highly evolved. Fossil records suggest that metamorphosis began to
around themselves.
The basket is made occur up to 300 million years ago and conferred an evolutionary advantage
of the caterpillar’s
own body hairs and on metamorphosing species, because their different forms and habitats
is constructed in
two stages, with a ensured that adults and larvae did not compete for the same resources.
base and an upper
half, which is loosely
hinged to the lower,
long side of the MAKING THE CHANGE
basket. Ultimately,
the two parts are Pupation describes the transition of a species from active eating machine
pulled together to
completely enclose (caterpillar) to the immobile, non-feeding preparatory stage (pupa), which
the developing
pupa inside. will ultimately yield the adult butterfly or moth. The term “chrysalis” is