Monarch development from egg to adult is completed in about 30 days. Monarchs usually lay a single egg on a plant, often on the bottom of a leaf near the top of the plant. It is difficult to tell just how many eggs each female lays during her life, but the average is probably from to The eggs hatch about four days after they are laid.
It is during this stage that Monarchs do all of their growing. They begin life by eating their eggshell, and then move on to the plant on which they were laid. When the caterpillar has become too large for its skin, it molts, or sheds its skin. At first, the new skin is very soft, and provides little support or protection. The new skin soon hardens and molds itself to the caterpillar, which often eats the shed skin before starting in anew on plant food! The intervals between molts are called instars.
Monarchs go through five instars see photo. Approximate length of body at each stage: 1st instar, mm; 2nd instar, mm; 3rd instar, mm; 4th instar, mm; 5th instar, mm. During the pupal stage the transformation from larva to adult is completed. The caterpillars of some moth species spin an additional outer protective case known as a cocoon around them before forming a pupa inside. These cocoons are often spun using a mesh of spun silk and hairs from its own body.
Many of these spun cocoons are rather flimsy and do not appear to offer much additional protection but their hairs may still prevent some parasites from reaching and penetrating the pupa and laying their eggs inside. However, some cocoons are of such a solid impenetrable construction that it has been suggested that some species may have developed a body acid to burn their way out.
These pupae may be formed in a wide variety of places including amongst leaf litter, in the soil, inside the stems of plants, on the trunks of trees and even on man made structures such as walls of houses. This refers to the golden brown colour of some pupae. Although, many of these will darken with age as the moth or butterfly develops inside. Chrysalis is more often used to refer to the pupation life stage of a butterfly and pupa for that of a moth.
The Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae butterfly shown above secures its pupa to a plant, often the stem of nettles, where it is cryptically disguised to blend in with the colours and shapes of its surroundings.
Some species, including many butterflies, such as the Comma Polygonia c-album butterfly above rely on a single shell pupa. They fix themselves to their chosen support by hanging upside from a cremaster, tiny hooks at the rear of the pupa, attached to a silken pad. Some species such as the Green-veined White Pieris napi below secure themselves facing upwards and spin an additional silk gurdle as extra support. Other sections in our popular Illustrated Guide to British Caterpillars.
Caterpillar Life-cycle. Survival strategies. Other facts. Caterpillar pests. Hairy caterpillars. Butterfly Caterpillars. Grasshoppers, crickets, dragonflies, and cockroaches have incomplete metamorphosis. The young called a nymph usually look like small adults but without the wings. Butterflies, moths, beetles, flies and bees have complete metamorphosis. The young called a larva instead of a nymph is very different from the adults. It also usually eats different types of food.
There are four stages in the metamorphosis of butterflies and moths: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Eggs are laid on plants by the adult female butterfly. These plants will then become the food for the hatching caterpillars. Eggs can be laid from spring, summer or fall. This depends on the species of butterfly. Females lay a lot of eggs at once so that at least some of them survive. The next stage is the larva.
This is also called a caterpillar if the insect is a butterfly or a moth. The job of the caterpillar is to eat and eat and eat. As the caterpillar grows it splits its skin and sheds it about 4 or 5 times. Food eaten at this time is stored and used later as an adult. Caterpillars can grow times their size during this stage.
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