Caterpillar Transforms Into Chrysalis Time Lapse

A Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor hirsuta) caterpillar performs its final molt as it pupates into a chrysalis in time lapse. Actual time was about 90 minutes. More butterfly and moth photo and video documentaries at JCMDI.COM.

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[imlatinoguy]

Must Spawn More Overlords

[jcmegabyte]

Indeed! They're good at that XD Thanks for checking it out =)

[Asdflvr]

At the start of the video it looks like its on one of those really old weight loss machines that just shook you hehe

[jcmegabyte]

The shed skin, appears to be only the skin itself. All the underlying tissue is apparently pulled back into the main body and absorbed into it. Interestingly, the external shape of the pupa is in the shape of the adult insect, all folded-up neatly into a compact package. You can see the head, eyes, wings, legs, antennae, etc. in the pupal skin. The adult insect then forms to fit that shape. You can see the time lapse development and skin separation in my "Painted Ladies Develop" vid. :-)

[jcmegabyte]

I've been interested in insects since I was a little kid, but only really into studying them and documenting their life cycle for the past 7 years or so. It's interesting how much one can learn about life in general by studying insects, and the stuff they do is pretty amazing :-)

[Maiyatsumi]

That sort of reminds me of a sponge. At least I think it was a sponge, where the if you break it up and keep it into a pool of water, it'll just reconstruct itself from all the broken pieces. That's very interesting knowledge on caterpillars. How long have you been doing these sorts of things?

[jcmegabyte]

Butterfly/moth metamorphosis is truly a miracle of nature. The caterpillar not only changes its outside shape, but liquifies itself inside too. While it is a pupa, it re-forms itself into the adult insect, on a molecular/cellular level. It never dies, it just becomes a soup of living cells that changes state. Throughout the process there seems to be some basic nervous system, perhaps a network between the liquid cells, which can respond to touch and make simple movements. Truly amazing :-)

[xKJx25]

@jcmegabyte Could you like explain one thing there. So the liquid inside becomes another insect? So is it like, a new personaity? the other caterpillar dies? xD Theyre weird >_> but awesome, I love watching ur videos xD

[razim25]

Lol nice orgasam

[jcmegabyte]

I haven't but that sounds like a very cool thing to time lapse as well! =)