1. NAME : ALIVO PRADANA
CLASS : 4 SCIENCE 4
METAMORPHOSIS OF BUTTERFLY
Butterflies are beautiful insect on the world but”From where did the butterfly come?,” it is not a
mystery. The truth is caterpillar transformed into a gorgeous and colorful butterfly. Sounds
amazing, isn’t it ? I believe you are curious to know about this wonderful butterfly
metamorphosis. How Do You Define Metamorphosis? I would want you to understand what
metamorphosis means. Metamorphosis is a transformation or you can say different stages of
development of each and every insect before it becomes an adult. The developmental stages or
the metamorphosis of a butterfly takes place in four stages.
The first stage is the egg. Adult females lay eggs on the kind of plant their young will later
need as food.
The eggs hatch into wormlike creatures known as larvae. The common name for the larvae of
butterflies is caterpillar. Caterpillars are busy and hungry. They may eat once or twice their own
weight in leaves each day. After several days of such constant feeding, caterpillars outgrow their
own skins. When this happens they molt, splitting the skin and crawling out of it. Caterpillars
may shed their skins four or five times in this second stage of the life cycle.
In the third stage the caterpillar goes into a resting state and is called a pupa. The pupa does
nothing except rest. This stage may last two weeks; it may last a whole winter. During this
period the caterpillar changes into a full-grown butterfly.
In its new and adult form, the butterfly emerges wet and shaky from the cocoon. As blood
flows into the veins of the wings the adult flutters and dries them. In a few hours, when the
wings are strong and dry, the butterfly flies off to live out its fourth, or adult, stage.
To sum up, butterflies are one of the beautiful creations among the insects. There are different
kinds of butterflies like Monarch, Blue Morpho, Queen Alexandra's Birdwing, Viceroy, Ulysses
and so on. Children and adults enjoy their beauty equally. Butterfly metamorphosis is a vicious
cycle and the life of the butterfly goes on and on.