How long caterpillars stay in cocoons

Blue morpho butterflies are native to the tropical forests of Central and South America. These butterflies are famous for their bright, translucent blue wings that appear blue due to reflected light rather than pigment. Like the monarch butterfly, morpho butterflies emerge from a green chrysalis, though a morpho's chrysalis is much plumper and has fewer golden spots. Unlike the monarch's chrysalis, a blue morpho's chrysalis never becomes completely transparent.

Instead, the chrysalis becomes partially brown and partially transparent with a milky-white quality just before a blue morpho butterfly is ready to emerge. Amazingly, blue morphos have developed a way to protect themselves from predators even in their vulnerable chrysalis stage. The chrysalis of this butterfly emits a repulsive ultrasonic sound when touched, which drives predators away.

Mechanitis polymnia butterflies are small, thin-bodied butterflies native to South America. They have small rounded wings, long yellow antennae, and coloration similar to that of monarchs with a bit of yellow and white mixed in. The most impressive stage of the Mechanitis polymnia's life cycle, by far, occurs before the butterfly emerges from its chrysalis.

Mechanitis polymnia chrysalises are nearly solid gold with bold black and brown stripes patterned throughout. These metallic chrysalises are what give the butterfly part of its name: mechanitis. It is a reference to the machinelike quality of the highly unusual-looking chrysalises. As strange as the chrysalises may seem, Mechanitis polymnia butterflies emerge in the same way as other butterflies and in the same amount of time — about 10 to 14 days.

Maria Cook is a freelance and fiction writer from Indianapolis, Indiana. She has written about science as it relates to eco-friendly practices, conservation and the environment for Green Matters. TL;DR Too Long; Didn't Read Most butterflies take about 10 to 14 days to emerge from their chrysalises, though the color and other characteristics of chrysalises vary from species to species. How to Identify Caterpillar Cocoons. Life Cycle of a Silkworm.

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. Moth Caterpillars. Sawfly Larvae. Other Larvae. Butterflies have four distinct stages in their life cycle. They start as an egg, hatch into a caterpillar, turn into pupae during metamorphosis, and finally emerge as a butterfly.

It's common to call the shell where a butterfly completes its metamorphosis a cocoon, but that's technically incorrect. While some insects, like moths, spin a cocoon, a butterfly uses a chrysalis, which is essentially hardened skin.