Metamorphosis of a Monarch

Here is a slide show I did of a Monarch caterpillar becoming a butterfly. The metamorphosis time this whole process took was about three weeks. This video begins with a full-grown caterpillar which is around 2" long. Then when it's ready to become a chrysalis, it attaches itself with a few strands of silk upside down to the underside of a milkweed leaf or a twig. You will watch as it begins to curl, then the caterpillar skin at the back of the head splits! The skin continues to split, until it is only attached by the silk. At that time the chrysalis, or pupa, wriggles and wiggles until it detaches the no longer needed caterpillar skin. If you look closely, you can see the formation of the wings. The wings get longer and longer until they are almost the length of the chrysalis. After about 10 days, the outer skin of the pupa becomes clear, and you can see the actual butterfly within. This skin then splits, and, miraculously, out comes a beautiful Monarch butterfly. Be sure to have your sound on and enjoy! (Click the square in the lower right of video window to view in full screen, hit esc key to return to normal screen.)




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6 comments:

  1. Very nice! Thank you.

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. What a wonderful site depicting nature. Thank you for your tales of nature.

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  4. What a wonderful site depicting nature. Thank you for your tales of nature.

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  5. What a wonderfull depicting nature. Thank you.

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  6. Impressive tutorial. I like the depicting nature. Thanks a lot.

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