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The monarch’s amazing metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly

Hello strangers, this is your classic caterpillar-raising, amazing scientist! My name is Edith, and I wrote this really long, two-part article which I really hope you enjoy! Today is Part 1.

Lately, I have become a monarch caterpillar parent. I have raised three beautiful baby caterpillars into three marvelous monarch butterflies, and today I will rattle on and on about caterpillars, chrysalises, and ... a bonus -- a true story, starring Stanley the caterpillar. The bonus story starring Stanley will come in part 2.

I have a question for you -- which came first, the monarch butterfly or the caterpillar? Well, it's a tough question, so don't be sad if you don't know the answer.

You may say, "The butterfly, because it evolves," but think about this: a monarch caterpillar turns into a monarch butterfly, so you need the caterpillar to transform into a butterfly, but you need a butterfly to lay the eggs a monarch caterpillar hatches from, so ... which came first?

I will dive deeper into the caterpillar's life cycle. A caterpillar's journey is quite confusing.

It starts with the beat of wings, a flash of color amidst black. A monarch butterfly lands on a green milkweed leaf. This is the place where she will lay her eggs.

Waiting on the milkweed leaf, the caterpillar larva sits silently in its little oval egg. Around three to five days later, a black dot will form on the top of the egg; this is actually the head of the baby caterpillar. The baby caterpillar will eat its way out of its egg and devour its first meal, its old home, which will provide many nutrients the young caterpillar needs.

For the next 11 to 18 days, the caterpillar will grow, molt, and eat! Fun fact -- monarch caterpillars and butterflies are poisonous because of all the milkweed they eat, since milkweed is severely poisonous to most animals.

The most confusing part about a monarch caterpillar's life is the metamorphosis, which it does when turning into a butterfly. First, the caterpillar digests itself. (Now is the right time to gasp, drop your coffee mug, and run in circles screaming)

That deserves a wow! Then it releases enzymes to dissolve all of its tissue. Although not everything dissolves, a special group of organized cells called imaginal discs carry on.

Now you may be wondering, "What is an imaginal disc?" Well, you are not alone; I didn't even know. Imaginal discs are basically just a group of biological cells that are almost like a blueprint for different body parts, so for a butterfly there is an imaginal disc for the wings, head, antennae, eyes and legs, as well as many more things I will not list now because it would take forever.

These imaginal discs are formed before the caterpillar even hatches. Once the caterpillar has liquefied all of its tissue except the imaginal discs, the caterpillar will use the rich proteins extracted to begin the expeditious metamorphosis into a butterfly. The imaginal discs will turn into the separate body parts needed to make up a butterfly.

Next, the butterfly will begin its journey again, but this time on wings. And there you have it, folks, that is the life cycle of a butterfly.

I hope you enjoyed the first part of this really long, two-part article I wrote. Now don't miss part 2, because it is even more amazing than part 1.

Edith Kitchel is a 12-year-old person who lives on planet Earth. They love reading and may try fencing in the near future. Edith enjoys trying to touch their nose with their tongue, making art and reading.