Indra Swallowtail Butterfly Pupation Time Lapse Documentary

[JunLiga]

awww. so pretty. But can someone tell me where their larva skin (I'm not sure how to call this) goes? It seems like they pull it inside them, do they eat it?

[TheNatureStation]

@JunLiga In the first few instars (larval phases) the caterpillars actually eat their molted skins as they grow for some added protien. However, at this last phase the pupa is incapable of eating, so the molted skin just falls away to the ground, no doubt to be consumed by some other hungry predator :-)

[JunLiga]

@TheNatureStation Excellent! thank you very much for your answer.

[DarkIvanlife]

It is amazing how these creatures can do this. Truely a work of nature. Way to go universe~

[sharonduke95]

What is that string of silk thqt goes across their backs in the pupa stage ?

Wonderful Video.

[jcmegabyte]

@sharonduke95 That is actually a silk thread which the caterpillar spins itself, to hold itself in place during the potentially long (sometimes up to 7 years) pupal diapuase phase. There is a link in the vid description to a couple of my other vids which show how they make that thread. :-) Enjoy!

[OtakuFangirlZ]

@JcmdiStockFootage eh, well to be honest, i kinda wound up on this video by mistake. Hehehe. But its still wonderful. :)

[OtakuFangirlZ]

Beautiful.

[JcmdiStockFootage]

@OtakuFangirlZ  Thanks so much for watching! :-)

[hellboy359]

Did you tie that string thingy around their body? If they did it themselves, I wanna see that! Haha that'd be hard :D

[JcmdiStockFootage]

@hellboy359 The caterpillars actually make that themselves.... and you're right - they have to bend themselves in half BACKWARDS in order to spin the loop around themselves. :-O You can see a couple of timelapses I made of them doing it here: v=xN42dXsr3l4 and v=9kfyzGxg5sg

Cheers! =)

[Stand4TheRepublic]

Do they eat the outer shell once they shed it?

[JcmdiStockFootage]

@Stand4TheRepublic Many caterpillars do eat their shed skins during their larval growth stages, but at this final molt they have no mouthparts at all, and are basically sacks of gooey liquid which gradually harden. They can't do much of anything except hang their and prepare for metamorphosis, so the skin they molt here just falls away. That skin will most likely be found and eaten by some passing predator or just decompose from weathering and bacteria. Thanks for visiting!

[Stand4TheRepublic]

@JcmdiStockFootage Thanks for answering so quickly :) That is quite fascinating, nature is so awesome!

[altoidfart]

Medusa stonified them!

[incisorpinoydeath]

Awesome! What creator God we have!

[jcmegabyte]

@OneEmaan Thanks so much! =)

[giggitygoo202]

awesome



[jcmegabyte]

@giggitygoo202 Thanks! =D

[MASEK360]

@jcmegabyte what a bunch of badasses

[WhenYourStrange93]

interesting.

[junhua123]

wow :O

[jcmegabyte]

@junhua123 Thanks for stopping by! =D

[PortraitGardens]

Very Cool!

[jcmegabyte]

@PortraitGardens  Thank so much - cheers! =)

[jayjoetube14]

better than porn

[urbangreenbee]

This is incredible! Thank you!

[jcmegabyte]

@urbangreenbee I'm happy you enjoyed this one - thanks so much for watching! :-)  I have lots more butterfly and moth life cycle vids posted too... Cheers!

[tsukiomilover]

uhh, why are there wires around them? :(

[jcmegabyte]

Actually, those are silk threads, and the caterpillars themselves made them, to help hold them in place while they go through metamorphosis. I have made several other timelapse videos of the caterpillars making the threads, so you can see how they do it :-)

[tsukiomilover]

@jcmegabyte ooh! haha, okay then XD ill look into that!

[TheaterTurkey]

I want the throw one, can someone tell me why?

[happyman]

caterpie!!! evolve to....  metapod!

metapod evolve to... butterfree!!!

[heroboy22]

Fantastic.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for checking it out! =)

[heroboy22]

@jcmegabyte This video has been a long time on the youtube-start page, And I was glad I took a look! ;D

[586lilkiller]

what did they do with the black stuff that used to be there cocoon?

[jcmegabyte]

The black stuff is just the old skin - and it just falls away after molting, probably to be eaten by some other bugs (ants, etc.) =)

[MrCharlie0521]

-nadine-

ang ganda talaga ng butterfly

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for visiting! =)

[huanphung555]

i hate worm but i love firefly

[zombiekill2]

had a couple tigers on my blood orange tree once those things got pretty big

[jcmegabyte]

Tiger Swallowtails? That would be really unusual... I would expect Giant Swallowtails on citrus... Do shoot and post some video of them if you can :-)

[zombiekill2]

@jcmegabyte im pretty sure they were tigers.

[zombiekill2]

Respond to this video... i dont post videos i just like to watch and comment show my appreciation to peoples videos

[SIKShow]

I wish I could do that.

[jcmegabyte]

It would be worth it - just to be able to fly afterwards! XD Thanks for checking it out =)

[zombiekill2]

i used to go out in our vegetable garden and get like the black swallowtails off the carrots and parsley and raise them to butterflys.....and zebra swallowtails also but they didnt eat the same stuff they ate a fruit leaf called pawpaw(not sure on the spelling)



[jcmegabyte]

It's interesting how different species need different host plants. It's cool when you can just go out in your back yard and collect them to raise and observe. :-) Yes, the Zebras do eat Pawpaw, and nothing else, so far as I know :-)

[zombiekill2]

thats fricken amazing



[lexdragon01]

do you own them?

[jcmegabyte]

I guess you could say that... I went out to the desert and collected them, then raised them back in my lab/studio... =)

[MistuhNinjuh]

That was so beautiful. But I still hate them. They're so annoying when they fly around me.

[jcmegabyte]

Good thing they can't get to you when you watch them on video =) Thanks for stopping by!

[bymacorg11]

Nice time-lapse movie! smooth! Do you know you can make time-lpase movies with any camera with this device: (copy address to browser): tempusALL.bymac.org

Works with ANY camera! cool :P

[HoboKodama]

So it forms the cocoon under it's skin, then rips off its skin and eats it?

[jcmegabyte]

For each phase of a caterpillar's growth - that's exactly what happens, except for this last phase... The caterpillar does indeed form a new skin under the old one, but at this point it is changing its form into a pupa and can no longer eat. When the skin comes off, it just falls away, probably to be eaten by some other insects. Thanks for checking it out!

[jellis225]

Thats Beautiful

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching! =)

[makana808lol]

it looks so hard ... the cacoon i mean you sickminded ppls >:DD

[jcmegabyte]

Sort of like turning yourself inside-out! Hard indeed =) Thanks for visiting!

[makana808lol]

@jcmegabyte that makes sense, i watched this to see what its like (:

[ThatSongRocks]

That's pretty amazing

[JCMDIweirdStuff]

Thanks so much for watching! =)

[AmphibiousReconMSOB]

zergs pwn all

[PunkyPorker]

Hahaa. I put some grindcore on over this. Awww yeeahhh. To legit.

[jcmegabyte]

Just about anything is more watchable when you put your favorite tracks to it! =)

[TakeOneLTD]

I thought they were supposed to get "cacooned" upside down, It looks like theyare stringed.

That sounds unconfortable.

[jcmegabyte]

It's interesting how many different ways butterflies (and moths) have of doing this... Some species hang upside down while others "strap" themselves in to various substrates. The caterpillar of species usually crawls into dark, hidden places (under large rocks in the desert mountains), then spins a silk pad and strap around itself. I used a paper bag for them to hide in this time. Once they were all strapped in, I cut out the paper part they were attached to for making this vid :-)

[jcmegabyte]

Note: there is lots more info in the vid description, with links to video showing caterpillars strapping themselves in too :-) Thanks for watching!

[bbphnix]

I cannot imagine how it would be like if humans had such a life cycle.... can you imagine?

[JcmdiStockFootage]

It would be weird for sure, but the flying part at the end would definitely be worth it! :-)

[bbphnix]

@JcmdiStockFootage no, I meant just the cycle; at adolescence you feel the need to rip your skin off to expose a pupa; than from the pupa you come out as an adult;

you only eat before the pupa... and you're supposed to get as fat as possible during that time; and once out of the pupa.... you'd have tom ate soon, because you'd die soon;

either adolescence would have to be moved to like 80 years old, or the life-span would be shortened greatly;

that's the life of a butterfly.... yuch!

[jcmegabyte]

...and if that wasn't bad enough, from the second you get oviposited just about everything in the world want to have you for lunch (and usually does)! XD

[KELICODEIRO2010]

PAZ E SUCESSO.....BRASIL

[JcmdiStockFootage]

Thanks for watching and commenting! :-)

[Kartoonkid95]

@Erikthehunterl4d1 More like humping the box!

[amyhou]

congratulations your caterpie evolved into a mteapod!

[jcmegabyte]

Actually, at this point in the lives they can't eat anything. Once they strap themselves in (to this cardboard, a rock, or whatever they decide to use in the wild) they won't eat again until the emerge as adult butterflies, which can be as long as 7 years from this point in time. :-)

[carazide]

Thumbs up if you listened to psytrance just a few seconds ago! :D

[DoubleYou777]

im not sure how i got to watch this o.o

[jcmegabyte]

YouTube's "related" videos are sometimes puzzling how they match them up XD Thanks for watchign anyway! =)

[alicewendon]

They start off so ugly, but when they're done they look so beautiful :')

[jcmegabyte]

Yea - these weird wormy-looking little packages don't look much like the amazing critter they turn into, but if you look really closely at them, you can see the "finished" butterfly's body all packed in tightly in the pupal case, almost as if this is a mold that the butterfly will grow into. Trippy little bugs! =)

[alicewendon]

@jcmegabyte It's so fascinating; I wish I had some :) I love caterpillars, but we don't see many around here. Do the butterflies live for very long afterwards?

[jcmegabyte]

In a perfect world with ideal survival conditions, most butterflies can live for several weeks. However, they are on the menu of just about every predator, so most never last that long. By far the longest potential phase of a butterfly/moth's life is the pupal phase, with some species being able to wait 5-7 years for suitable envoronmental conditions before beaking diapause and developing into an adult. During that time they are still alive, just running in super-slow metabolic speed. :-)

[Earthdragon2000]

Congratulations! You're Metapod evolved into Butterfree!

I'm sorry. I couldn't resist.

[jcmegabyte]

Indeed - thanks for watching and commenting! :-)

[jcmegabyte]

Yep - they do that =) Normally, the caterpillar wouldn't waste the skin and usually eats it. However, since the pupa can't eat, the skin just has to fall away and willprobably be eaten by something else. That's nature for ya! :-O

[Dani41209]

That's tight. I never seen anything like this in my life.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching! :-)

[Dani41209]

@jcmegabyte my pleasure.. 

[ENVOYizCLUTCH]

0:04 WAS THAT BUTTERFLY ON A DAMN CONDOMN? ITS GONNA GET HIV!!

[TelliTubbiesMerk]

they look like pieces of shit...

[Sweetlafftaff]

Wow , i actually never seen the process take place

Thanks for Posting. Great Video!

Question : What happened to the shedded skin? Im not really sure.

[jcmegabyte]

The shed skin simply falls to the ground, no doubt to be eaten by some scavenger... Nothing goes to waste in nature :-)

[misskatse]

did you tie them down??? is that normal? ...

[jcmegabyte]

Actually, the small silk pads and threads holding them in place are made by the caterpillars themselves. It's critical that they fasten themselves securely in place until they emerge as adult butterflies. If they were to break loose and fall, they would almost certainly not survive. I have posted timelapse footage of caterpillars "strapping" themselves in as well.. It's amazing to watch them do it :-)

[tidoY2K]

@jcmegabyte can you link to the video for the caterpillars strapping themselves in...i would like to see it, And thanks for posting up these videos. They look amazing

[jcmegabyte]

I added some links to the videos of the caterpillars strapping-in to the video details, and here are the video IDs: watch?v=uMdrBgGk6Ik  (Indra caterpillars) and watch?v=xN42dXsr3l4 (much better one of a Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar strapping in)

Enjoy! =)

[HOXHOXHOX]

thanks for this awesome video.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for the view and nice comment! =)

[bmxty82]

Dam this stuffs kool wen ur high

[xKJx25]

their shedding pattern is awesome

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for visiting :-) Cheers!

[jcmegabyte]

I'm glad you liked this one - I do have a LOT of butterfly and moth life cycle documentaries online here so do enjoy the show! Cheers! =)

[the1thatgotirwin]

do you have an oven timer next to the caterpillars?

[jcmegabyte]

That large white and black object in the back is actually a Canon laser printer, but your comment gave me some ideas about placing a clock or timer in the frame to give a better time scale reference in future vids. Thanks! :-)

[TheLoveofButterfles]

Where did you get these?? Jealous!

[jcmegabyte]

I got these from the type locality, which is about a 2-hour drive into the northern Mojave Desert mountains, followed by a 1200-foot, 2-hour climb to the summit of a desert peak. Like most Indra species they like to fly in places that aren't easy to get to, but if you go at the right time of year, odds are good that you'll to get a few :-)

[kenntoot]

Caterpie evolves to Metapod!

[x0Thage0x]

ok....so that was major creepy

[desepairnei]

oh no!!!wtf???!!!!

[porkyminch01]

fucking metapods how do they harden?

[Maximo121091]

Awesome.. That was cool lol.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for checking it out! :-)

[Stephaniewatercolour]

how long will they be inside?

[jcmegabyte]

These can emerge from the chrysalis as an adult butterfly in as little as 2-3 weeks, or stay in there for up to 7+ years in times of severe drought! Amazing little bugs :-)

[wileyk209zback]

@jcmegabyte Where I live, we have the Cabbage White butterflies, and it depends on the time of year for how long they stay in the chrysalis. If it's in spring or summer, it takes a couple of weeks. But if the caterpillars go into the chrysalis around November-December, they stay in pupation until around April-May.

[jcmegabyte]

Many of our local species do that too. We do have some sub-tropical ones that can't overwinter (diapause) in the pupal stage, and so they die-off if temperatures become sub-freezing for any length of time. Interesting tactics insects use to survive harsh times! :-)

[wileyk209zback]

@jcmegabyte Yeah. Interestingly, in my area it seems to mostly be the butterflies that have species that overwinter as pupae. The moths typically overwinter as eggs!

[yutube221]

wow good gracious!!!! wuuuu Glory be to Almighty God! ahhh mann!!! that is amazin stunning WOW

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

[ingridgott]

nature is wonderfull ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my a beautiful new born butterfly stunning

[jcmegabyte]

This process is always fascinating, no matter how many times I see it :-) Thanks again for visiting!

[suicidalmushrooms]

eeeeeeeeeeeWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW­WWWWWWWWWW



[nightslash3535]

A thing of beauty.

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you enjoyed - thanks so much for visiting! :-)

[mifolious]

i choose you butterfry!!!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for checking it out :-)

[karmacomacure]

they don't look too comfortable. . .

[jcmegabyte]

This is what they do all by themselves in nature... including strapping themselves in with that thin silk thread. It does make you wonder how it feels to completely remove your own skin though! :-O

[SubUrbanHunter]

disgusting. makes me want to vomit

[LeeDoc6595]

Does the wires holding them down hot hurt them :o ??

[bandidomus]

It´s funny. I used to have Papilio Machaon at home some years ago. Obviously I let them to go away when they turned into butterflies.

[jcmegabyte]

Most swallowtail species are pretty interesting to raise... thanks for watching! :-)

[jcmegabyte]

The thin wire-like threads holding them in place are actually silken threads that the caterpillar spins itself. You can see a time lapse video of a different Swallowtail species making its silken loop in this video: watch?v=koz_1zgGd0Y

They also spin a silken pad to attach their tail end to. Thanks for watching! :-)

[michaelareyes143]

ewww

[TheNintendoGalaxy]

I love lepidoptera. It's fun to see fat little wriggly things turn into something so graceful.

[jcmegabyte]

So glad you enjoyed the show! Thanks for visiting =)

[MercenaryCookie]

creepy....

[jcmegabyte]

...like horror movie monsters!  XD

[Mrskilletzero]

How big are they?

[jcmegabyte]

These are only about 1" to 1.5" long :-)

[Whoozinga]

Wow that is so amazing and beautiful, especially with the music!

I love how they shiver at first before the skin splits-, ok ok , almost time, ok, yep, oh, OH here I gooooo!

[jcmegabyte]

Definitely fascinating stuff - the pre-molting movements were something I didn't know about until I started doing time lapse (it's not visible to the naked eye in realtime), after which time I discovered that many (if not all) species do it too

Thanks for stopping by! =)

[corycoro]

hola,hace unos dias atras, encontre en un arbol afuera de mi casa muchos gusanos que aparentan ser orugas..... al principio me parecio bonito ver la metamorfosis, pero ya son muchas las orugas y se me estan regando por los alrededores de mi casa y tengo miedo a que entren. No se que hacer, no quisiera matarlas...pero ya no me agrada la idea de que sean tantas, pues no es tan agradable ver muchos gusanos en frente de la casa. si alguien me puede ayudar con algun consejo lo agradecere.

[jcmegabyte]

You might be able to find some useful information on my website, JCMDI D0T C0M)in the butterfly and moth section. Have a look at some of the life cycle and rearing documentary pages. Good luck with your bugs! :-) 

[jcmegabyte]

Yep - the whole life cycle process of most insects is pretty weird, but also amazing at the same time =) Thanks for visiting!

[MPSecare]

I have about 8-10 of these little (some not so) guys on my parsley outside right now, i just pet one of them. biggest one is FAT. gonna be cool when they morph. We have butterfly bushes outside i dont remember what they are called but we have mass swallowtail and monarch about this time of year.

[jcmegabyte]

You should post some vids of all that action! :-)

[shouphoebe]

starting from 0:20 the catterpillar's skin looks like a spiral! :D

[jcmegabyte]

Interesting effect, isn't it? The "white" stripes on the skin are actually transparent so you get a cool show as it slides over the striped pattern underneith. Thanks for watching and commenting :-)

[DanySayRide]

Everyone likes to jiggle!

[jcmegabyte]

...and these bugs definitely got the moves! XD Thanks for stopping by :-)

[loveyoutodeathbut]

Your response to my message made me go googling and here's what popped up ^ ^

[jcmegabyte]

I think google definitely likes me - it's surprising how many of my vids and pages rank highly in their searches. Probably because I'm "copyright safe" for advertising XD

[natureperson420]

the print on his/her back looks like 2 images of the catapilar stage with the eyes and antenia on upper/ tip of wing

[jcmegabyte]

The pattern on the adult butterfly's hindwings resemble eyes and antennae, and it's thought that will confuse predators so that they will be more likely to bite at the tail instead of the head, allowing the butterfly to escape with only some minor wing damage. =)

[TyeNee]

Congratulations! Your CATERPIE has evolved into METAPOD!

[jcmegabyte]

...and it looks like there's going to be quite a few of them! Thanks wotching :-)

[TheThroney]

@jcmegabyte did you put strings around them or is that something they do themselves?

[jcmegabyte]

The caterpillar actually makes that silken thread loop itself. You can see the caterpillar of a different species making one in time lapse here: v=xN42dXsr3l4

Thanks for watching! :-)

[b4rn1k4]

very cool thank you!

[jcmegabyte]

No prob - thanks for watching!

[starburst850]

thats was kinda scary but then pretty at the same time

LMAO

[jcmegabyte]

Yep - funny thing about nature - weird and beautiful at the same time! =)

[EBAudition]

@jcmegabyte fuck nature as far as creation. God made them. And fuck who doesn't believe God and his angels made everything. Stupid evolutionists!!! Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

[snicelicious]

@EBAudition you don't have to swear dude. where's the love?

[Wolfgirl2help]

@EBAudition Donot judge and ye shall not be judged, kind sir. Please, be gentle toward others. "Love thy neighbor as thine own"

[Whoozinga]

@EBAudition absolutely

[5mrscullen5]

wow

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for watching! :-)

[MPSecare]

This is great video I see them all the time in my backyard in the herb garden.

Also: Next in my recommendations, Cannibal Corpse: Hammer Smashed Face.

LOL

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for stopping by and commenting! =)

[Wazgrel]

I can't imagine how hard it was to make this video... And while butterflies are beautiful, their shirt-eating phase just freaked the hell out of me.

Still thanks a lot for sharing this!

[jcmegabyte]

Bugs definitely do some weird and amazing stuff... Time lapse sequences like this do take a lot of time and patience to be ready at just the right moment, in addition to the weeks of hunting/collecting and rearing the critters to this point. Overall it's quite fascinating and well worth the effort! Thanks for watching and commenting! :-)

[SecretMisery]

Woaw, very inspiring and beautiful