A Students Guide to Butterflies
The pupa stage is where the butterfly makes its incredible change from the larva to the adult. Most butterflies remain in the pupa stage between one and two weeks. During this time inside its pupa, the larva is tranforming its body parts into those that the adult will need for it new life as a butterfly. In place of mandibles, the probosicis will begin to form to serve the adult and its liquid diet. Wings will be formed from the thorax, and the parts of the head will undergo drastic changes in appearance. Visible changes on the outer layer of the pupa can be noticed as the adult butterfly begins to develop within.
As mentioned previously, the larva begins to empty its stomach while in the prepupa stage. You may notice that the pupa is about half the length of the larva. This is due to the fact that about half of the larva is stomach. When the pupa forms, the larva stage is over and the parts it had are no longer necessary. An adult butterfly does not need a large stomach because it only drinks small amounts of liquid. When the pupa later forms, the organism will consume the larval stomach to create energy and carry it through the pupa stage. This is why the pupa is much shorter in appearance.
Pupae cannot fly, bite, sting or run away if discovered by a predator. They are practically helpless. Their principal means of defense is to blend in with their surroundings and remain inconspicuous. Without exception they are brown, gray or green -- colors that hide very well in nature. Many of the pupae that one sees, with little or no imagination, can resemble things found in nature such as dried leaves, broken branches, fruit, and even the heads of venomous snakes.Emergence from the Pupa
When a butterfly first emerges from the pupa, its wings and body as an adult are hardly recognizable. As the butterfly has been confound within the small area of the pupa, its wings are of course much smaller than they will be as a flying adult. The process of the newly emerged butterfly extending its wings is truly a fascinating one. The butterfly will take liquids from its body and slowly send this liquid down through the viens of the wings. Within a half-hour, the wings will be fully extended and ready to dry.
The wing has a lamination around it that will begin hardening about half an hour after emerging. For this reason butterflies must hang upside down upon emergence. They need the help of gravity to pull the wings down into their natural position. If the wing gets caught on a branch and doesn't stretch out, it will stay like that forever. Most likely, this butterfly will not be able to fly, and it will not be a contributing member of its species and will promptly die.
This information is provided by Evan Fitzgerald, who was an intern at The Butterfly Farm in 1999. Evan graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science in May 1998. Evan can be reached at: evan@butterflyfarm.co.cr
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