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The larvae – caterpillars – have a toughened (sclerotised) head capsule, chewing mouthparts, and a soft body, that may have hair-like or other projections, three pairs of true legs, and up to five pairs of prolegs. Most caterpillars are herbivores, but a few are carnivores (some eat ants, aphids, or other caterpillars) or detritivores. [2]
The caterpillar will form a chrysalis that is pointed at both ends and humped in the middle. The chrysalis will be either yellow or green with pink or green stripes. From the chrysalis comes a medium-sized butterfly (55–70 mm (2.2–2.8 in)) with fairly elongated but not angled wings.
Junonia coenia, known as the common buckeye or buckeye, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.Its range covers much of North America and some of Central America, including most of the eastern half of the US, the lower to middle Midwest, the Southwest (including most of California), southern Canada, and Mexico.
Nymphalis antiopa, known as the mourning cloak in North America and the Camberwell beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North America. The immature form of this species is sometimes known as the spiny elm caterpillar. [2]
Larvae of the question mark butterfly, like all lepidopteran larvae, mature through a series of stages called instars.Near the end of each instar, the larva undergoes a process called apolysis, in which the cuticle, a tough outer layer made of a mixture of chitin and specialized proteins, is released from the softer epidermis beneath, and the epidermis begins to form a new cuticle beneath.
Shaped like the forked tongue of a snake, the osmeterium excretes a fetid terpene-based compound and is deployed when the caterpillar is provoked. The caterpillars are also unappealing to most predators due to their toxicity: the vines which the caterpillars feed upon contain aristolochic acid, a poisonous compound known to be carcinogenic in rats.
In the adult butterflies, the first pair of legs is small or reduced, [3] giving the family the other names of four-footed or brush-footed butterflies. The caterpillars are hairy or spiky with projections on the head, and the chrysalids have shiny spots.
The caterpillars of the Julia butterfly have pink, gray, and black coloration throughout their body with maroon and cream patches. Long, branched, black spines also cover their entire body. A cream-colored, inverted Y-shaped mark can be seen on the front of the caterpillar's head.