Have you ever wondered if butterflies are the only animals that start out as caterpillars? Let’s explore this fun question together!
Once upon a time, a teacher named Jeremiah went on a camping trip in Japan with his students. They saw strange little things hanging from trees, bushes, and even their tents. At first, they were a bit scared, but soon they discovered something magical. The next morning, one of these things started to wiggle and out came a beautiful butterfly! These little things were called chrysalises, and inside, caterpillars were transforming into butterflies.
When animals change completely from one form to another, it’s called metamorphosis. Butterflies aren’t the only ones who do this amazing trick. Let’s meet some other animals that change shape!
Have you ever seen a ladybug? They start out looking very different from the cute beetles we know. As babies, they look like tiny alligators! When they grow up, they become the red and black spotted beetles we love. This change is also metamorphosis.
In ponds, you might see little creatures that look like tiny fish. These are tadpoles, and they will grow up to be frogs! Tadpoles start with tails and live underwater. As they grow, they get legs and lose their tails, becoming frogs. Salamanders do something similar, but they grow their front legs first!
When baby animals look completely different from their adult forms, scientists call them larvae. Caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies. But did you know beetles, frogs, and salamanders also start as larvae? They all change shape as they grow up!
After learning about these amazing changes, you can try a fun activity! Watch caterpillars grow and change, and make a special card with your own “very hungry caterpillar” drawing. You can do this with friends or by yourself!
There are so many mysteries in the world. Keep asking questions and exploring. Who knows what amazing things you’ll discover next!
Butterfly Life Cycle Craft: Create a butterfly life cycle using simple materials. Gather some paper plates, markers, and craft supplies like pasta or beans. Divide the paper plate into four sections. In each section, draw and label the stages of a butterfly’s life: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly. Use different pasta shapes to represent each stage (e.g., a small bean for the egg, a spiral pasta for the caterpillar, a shell pasta for the chrysalis, and a bowtie pasta for the butterfly). This hands-on activity will help you visualize and remember the stages of metamorphosis.
Metamorphosis Observation Journal: Start a journal to observe and record changes in nature. Find a safe place where you can regularly observe insects or amphibians, like a garden or a pond. Draw pictures and write notes about what you see each week. Look for caterpillars, tadpoles, or other creatures that undergo metamorphosis. How do they change over time? Share your observations with your class or family.
Question Time: Think about these questions and discuss them with your friends or family. Why do you think some animals need to change their shape as they grow? How do you think metamorphosis helps animals survive in their environment? Can you think of any other animals that might go through metamorphosis? Use your imagination and research to find out more!
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(video call trilling) – Hi, Doug.
– Hi, Sumayya.
– I have a question for you. Are butterflies the only animals that start out as caterpillars?
– Ooh, that’s a great question. But rather than me answer it, I’m gonna let my friend Jeremiah take this one. Jeremiah is a teacher who knows a lot about this subject. Let’s give Jeremiah a call now.
(video call trilling) – Hi, Doug. I hear you have a question for me.
– I do. Sumayya is wondering, are butterflies the only animals that start out as caterpillars?
– I would love to answer that question. Once, when I was living in Japan, I had an experience with butterflies that I will never forget. My students and I were on a camping trip in a place called Nara. As we hiked to our campsite, we began to notice these strange little things hanging everywhere from trees and bushes and even large rocks. Even our tents were covered with them, even the inside of the tents. At first, I wanted to run back out of the woods as fast as I could, but when I looked at my students’ faces, I realized that they were looking for me to be brave and tell them what to do. After all, I was their teacher. So we ignored them as best we could and we went to sleep. The next morning, we noticed one of the strange things wriggling about, then suddenly it burst open and a large insect crawled out. At first, I was worried it was going to be like a scene from a scary movie. That is, until its majestic wings began to spread. Before long, it became a beautiful butterfly and it flitted away. Now, these little things hanging everywhere were what you might know as a cocoon, or to be exact, since these were butterflies and not moths, scientists would call them chrysalis. By the end of our camping trip, our entire campsite was filled with butterflies. It was truly an experience that I will never forget. Just weeks before, this is what they had looked like. They were caterpillars, the baby form of a butterfly, but then the caterpillars created a chrysalis and a few weeks later, poof, almost like magic, they emerged as a totally different-looking creature, a butterfly. I mean, it was almost like they were shape-shifting like Maui does in the movie, “Moana.” Think about it for a second. Can you think of any other animal that can totally change like that?
– [Doug] What do you think? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss. Okay, you ready?
– As you thought about this, you may have realized that when a lot of animals are born, they pretty much look like mini adults. Look at this turtle. It has eyes, a nose, it even has a shell. It pretty much looks like a mini adult turtle. And check out this baby horse. It’s got four legs, a mane, a tail. Except for being smaller, it looks exactly like a mini grown-up horse. So are butterflies truly one of a kind? Are they the only animals that seem to shape-shift like this? Well, actually, no. It may be surprising to hear that there are a lot of animals that do. Like, have you ever seen one of these? This alligator-looking insect may look unfamiliar to you as a baby, but I bet you’ll recognize it as an adult. Can you guess what it is? Let’s watch how it changes and find out. (soft playful music) Can you guess what it is? It’s a ladybug, a type of beetle. Ladybug babies look nothing like the beetles they’ll become when they’re adults. When animals completely change like this, it’s called metamorphosis, and butterflies and ladybugs aren’t the only animals that do this. In fact, a lot of insects totally look different when they’re babies. Like, check this out. Goliath beetle, one of the largest insects on earth. This is what it looks like as an adult and this is what it looks like when it’s a baby. Doesn’t it look like a worm? In fact, instead of being called caterpillars, many beetle babies are sometimes called mealworms. When it’s time to turn into an adult, they bury themselves deep underground. After three weeks, they climb out as adult beetles. So there are lots of insects that seem to shape-shift. But what about other animals? Like bigger ones? Are there any of those? There are. Have you ever seen these swimming in a pond? Though they kind of look like tiny, round fish, these animals aren’t fish at all. You may know what they are already. They’re tadpoles. Tadpoles spend most of their time underwater. After a few weeks, the tadpoles grow back legs and then they grow front legs. And then pretty soon, their tail disappears and then pop out of the water as adult frogs. And frogs aren’t the only animals that do that. Check this out. They look really similar to frogs to me, but what are they? They’re salamanders. When salamanders are babies, they look really similar to frog tadpoles. Here’s a trick to tell them apart, though. During metamorphosis, a frog tadpole will grow its back legs first then its front legs, but a salamander tadpole does just the opposite. It will grow its front legs first, then its back legs. That’s how you can tell it’s gonna grow up to be a salamander and not a frog. So, in the animal world, some types of animals have babies that really just look like mini adults, but plenty of animals have babies that are born looking completely different from how they’ll look as adults. Baby animals that can completely change like this are so special that scientists have given them their own name, larva. We call a baby animal a larva if it has a totally different shape or form than what it will look like when it’s an adult. Caterpillars are the classic example of a larva that lots of people know. They’re the larva of butterflies. But beetles, frogs, salamanders all start out in life as larva and seem to shape-shift into something totally different when they’re adults. That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Sumayya, for asking it.
– [Doug] Now, after this video is done playing, my friends and I here at Mystery Science have created a special activity where you’ll observe what happens to caterpillars as they grow bigger and bigger and bigger. You’ll also create a card for someone special with your own very hungry caterpillar. You can do this activity in a group or all by yourself. I hope you’ll try it. Now, for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and picked out three questions sent into me that I’m thinking about answering next. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from, “How are magnets made?” “How were toasters invented?” or, “Why do people get cavities?” So submit your vote when the video is over. I wanna hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious and see you next week.
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