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Look at the
Life of a Monarch Caterpillar
Just
moments after a monarch hatches from its egg it devours its own shell.
This is a fitting beginning for a creature whose focus is FOOD!
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Eggs
are usually laid on the underside of the leaf. |
The
day before hatching, the top of the egg turns black.
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Immediately
after emerging, the monarch turns back and eats its own shell.
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Let's look at some fast facts about monarch caterpillars:
- Larva
is the scientific word for caterpillar. Larvae is the plural of larva,
so "larvae" means "caterpillars." The use of either
"caterpillar" or "larva" is correct.
- Monarchs
spend the larval stage of their lives eating--and growing. In fact,
the typical monarch increases in mass by 2,000 times while it's a caterpillar.
This amazing transformation takes place in only about 9-14 days.
- The weight
a monarch gains as a larva determines the butterfly's size as an adult.
Bigger caterpillars become bigger butterflies; smaller caterpillars
become smaller adult monarchs.
- Once a
monarch becomes an adult butterfly, it does not grow any more.
- Larvae
go through five growth stages called "instars." This is because,
as insects grow, they must shed their exoskeletons as they increase
in size. Just as children outgrow their clothes, insects outgrow their
skeletons! (Luckily, human skeletons are inside our bodies and grow
with us.)
- In addition
to eating and growing, larvae must avoid predators and parasites! Mortality
is extremely high. Over 90% of all eggs laid never survive to the chrysalis
stage, according to preliminary results of the Monarch
Larval Monitoring Project.
- It's easy
to find monarch larvae when you look for leaf damage on milkweed leaves.
Predators and parasites may cue-in on leaf damage to find their prey.
For this reason, larvae of some butterfly species change their position
on the plant often, and move to different plants, as a predator avoidance
strategy.
- When frightened,
larvae use a silk lifeline to escape quickly. They can drop to the ground
and vanish in the vegetation in an instant. They also often curl up
into a ball when touched. Why do you suppose they do this?
- Only
the final monarch generation of summer migrates to Mexico. A butterfly's
chance of surviving the winter is greater the more lipids it has stored.
This means that the milkweed conditions available to larvae in the north
can ultimately affect their chances of surviving the winter!
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Can
you find the two larvae pictured here? |
Larvae
at each of the 5 stages of growth, called "instars."
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Notice
the typical pattern of "leaf damage" made by 1st instar
larvae.
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Photo:
Elizabeth Howard |
Photo:
Karen Oberhauser |
Photo:
Jim Edson |
Education
Standards >>
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