Ask Dr. Universe: Caterpillar soup inside a chrysalis

Dr-Universe-230PULLMAN, Wash. – Springtime sets the stage for one of the greatest transformations in the natural world.

“It’s the construction of a butterfly or moth from caterpillar soup,” said my friend David James, an entomologist at Washington State University. He studies the science behind metamorphosis, or how a creature transforms.

Before becoming butterflies, caterpillars enter the pupa stage where they build that little sack, called a cocoon or chrysalis. The chrysalis protects the caterpillar as it begins to turn itself into a liquid, soupy substance.

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