Metamorphosis!

[eco-art]

At one point in my life, I found myself going through some difficult stages, such as the force of cyclone Maria, which left me without electricity for a while, the collection of trees on the house .. ect ect .. And one day through the window From my house I saw the process of a caterpillar for several days. Since neither the strong wind nor the rain stopped her, I remember that since she couldn't help her, even with the rain I went out to see that she was alive. The experience was unique, in the end what I saw was amazing.

The life cycle of the monarch butterfly

There are four stages in the life cycle of a butterfly. These stages include the egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The entire process is called complete metamorphosis and it is one of the two forms that insects develop from an egg to an adult. The other type of development is called incomplete metamorphosis.

Egg

eggMonarch Butterfly Egg
Illustration of a monarch egg. You can see that the surface is not like that of a chicken egg or another bird.

A monarch begins life as an egg stuck under a milkweed leaf. The worm (a larva) grows inside the egg. When ready, the larva chews a hole on the outside of its egg, and crawls through the hole until it can enter the world outside. After a few minutes, the larvae eats the remains of its egg for the first time. Female monarchs lay one to three eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. This process is repeated until the female has laid hundreds of eggs. | top |

Larva

larva After eating its egg, the larva begins to eat milkweed leaves. Milkweed is the only plant that a monarch larva can eat. The larvae eats and grows, grows and eats. She grows so big that she can't fit into her old skin, almost when, like you, you grow so big that she can't fit into your old clothes.

In order to grow that large, the larva has to shed its skin. The old skin is split, exposing the new skin under it. The larva crawls on the old skin, which is already too small. After being released, the larvae usually eat their old skin before eating more milkweed leaves. | top |

j-shape

After shedding their skins, monarch larvae continue to grow, and they have to shed four more times. The last time they move is very different than the others. The larva crawls from its milkweed, and looks for a suitable place. Some larvae travel more than others. When the larva has found the appropriate place, it begins to weave a silk mesh with a "button" in the center. Once finished, the larva grabs the silk with its legs, and hangs upside down. The front of your body is curved into a "J" shape. | top |

early chrysalis

When it has formed its "J", the larva molts for the last time. The skin is parted on the back of its head, and the larva crawls while hanging upside down, to shed its old skin. The last molt is the most difficult, because the larva has to leave its old skin and still hang on its "button". Once the larva incorporates a hook that penetrates the "button" on the rear side of the larva, it can remove the remaining skin. | top |

Pupa

chrysalis When the remaining skin falls off, the larva pupates. It has no eyes, no antennae. It has no legs, and it cannot move. All the major changes in body shape, size, and arrangement take place when it is a pupa. In monarchs, this stage can last as long as a week. Upon completion, an adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. | top |

Adult

Coming out An emerging butterfly waits two to three hours before it can fly. New wings are small and wrinkled, so it pumps liquid through its wing veins to make them bigger. Afterward, the monarch has to wait until a little air can replace some of the liquid. Up to this point, the monarch cannot fly, and her wings are very easily damaged. | top |

butterfly After the wings have hardened, the butterfly flies until it finds its first meal. From this point on, the monarch takes all of her food. The butterfly will visit various types of flowers to find its food in the form of nectar. | top |

Monarch butterfly caterpillar eating a Swan plant.
A monarch larva eating a "Swan" plant. Image by Pseudopanax via Wikimedia Common.

Meal

A part of the life cycle of the butterfly is the change of diet during the different stages of its development. Monarch larvae only eat the leaves of plants called milkweed. When they become adults they switch to eating the nectar of different plants, including milkweed.

Not only do adult monarchs need to drink nectar, but like other butterflies, they also need to drink water. You can sometimes see them in wet soil where they can draw water from the ground. This is called (ponding).

Monarch butterfly drinking nectar
A monarch butterfly uses its long proboscis to drink nectar from a flower. Image by CJ Kazilek.

Mating

Adult monarchs begin mating in the spring, before returning to their summer range. Female monarchs generally lay a maximum of three eggs under milkweed leaves. She does this many times until she has laid hundreds of eggs. These eggs hatch into larvae, pupae, and become adults in the summer. These new adults also mate. The new females lay the eggs on their flight to the northward. This cycle repeats itself throughout the summer.

Finally, in September, the mating stops. The last generation of the summer is the one that will migrate to the wintering grounds.

[FunkyJunkyGypsy]

This is a wonderful post!!! I LOVE Nature and all it's glorious wonders! I think the butterfly was an animal messenger for you regarding transformation and change. Did, after the cyclone, things get better than they had been for you?