What Happens Inside the Chrysalis? The Science of Transformation

Discover mind-blowing facts about what happens inside the butterfly's chrysalis. From egg to butterfly, there are usually 4 stages of metamorphosis; but in this episode, Rick explores the fascinating processes inside the chrysalis. From enzymes to imaginal cells and the "primordial goop" that becomes a butterfly... It sounds like science fiction, but its just the awesomeness of nature!

Links mentioned in the episode:
Butterflies Remember Caterpillar Experiences

A Flutter of Memory

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Podcast Music: Positive Carefree Folk Pop
Artist: Burgberg
Used with Full Music Standard Lic.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And then as they shed that last skin, it's just this really cool looking crystallis. And that is technically the outside of their body. So then, if that's the outside of their body, when we see them hatch out as a butterfly, how's that work? When at what point do they separate from that exoskeleton to grow a butterfly? I'm Rick Schwartz, educator, public speaker, and all-around curious guy. Over the years, my curiosity and experiences, along with the many people I have worked with, revealed to me we all have a desire to feel connected to the natural world. You're listening to Animals, Nature, and You, a podcast that explores a connection between animals, nature, and humans. A podcast that celebrates learning more, following our curiosity, and reconnecting with the natural world. Welcome to another 10-minute Tuesday here on Animals, Nature, and You. I am so glad you're here because today we're talking about a topic that I think is truly fascinating. And on that note, if someone sent you this link because they thought you might be interested, welcome. I'm glad you're here. If you came across this episode quite by accident, if you don't know the stuff about butterflies, you're gonna mind blowing. Because that's what I did when I learned it for the first time. If you're a regular listener, thanks for coming back. I do appreciate it. There's so much to go into. And as you know, every Tuesday is a 10-minute episode where we uncover some fun animal facts or discuss something that reflects back to one of our other episodes. Every Thursday we have a cool interview with somebody doing really cool stuff. And that's what this episode is reflecting back on our last interview with David Mizajewski. We talked about native bees and busting up a bunch of bee myths, but at the end of that, we talked about butterflies and moths. And that got me thinking there's a really cool thing that happens. So if we step back a moment from the wildlife stuff and the animals and nature and focus on the human side, there was a big chunk of time where I was also doing mentor work for people going through transitions in life, doing a lot of mentoring and coaching in that space. And there was always that metaphor of like the caterpillar going to butterfly and the transformation that happens in the cocoon that they hunker down and come out as something beautiful. But I remember very clearly, because of my own curious brain, I was always like, well, wait a minute. What happens in the cocoon? Or is it a cocoon? Is it a chrysalis? And that's the other thing, real quick. Fun fact here. And I should have said chrysalis up front because I was talking about butterflies. However, in our English language, we tend to mix terms that are similar. A cocoon is usually reserved for the moth species or species of moths that don't have a heart outer shell. They use silk to create an enclosed space to go through their transformation. The butterfly is called a chrysalis because get this. So as a caterpillar grows, it hatches out of a small egg, right? It sheds its exoskeleton as it grows. And it's kind of weird to think of a caterpillar having an exoskeleton because I know when I initially think exoskeleton, I think hard and crunchy, right? Like a crab or a lobster or a beetle, something like grasshoppers, right? They're crunchy if you step on them. Not saying you should step on them, but just in general, you know. Where caterpillars, if you've ever touched one or seen how they move, it looks more like skin. It's a leathery outer coating. But that is indeed and technically an exoskeleton. There's no bones or other apparatuses inside the body. They give them structure. There's no skeletal structure. And the head case is actually kind of hard and crunchy fuel, where the mandibles are for chewing and crunching. So it is an exoskeleton that they do shed off every time they grow. So when they get ready to start their transformation, they shed their skin one last time, and that outer coat of the chrysalis is their new skin. It's their new exoskeleton. And it just blows my mind if you've ever seen this happen, because it's like, well, there's the head of the caterpillar, there's the eyes, there's the mandibles, there's all the legs. And then as they shed that last skin, it's just this really cool looking chrysalis. And that is technically the outside of their body. So then if that's the outside of their body, when we see them hatch out as a butterfly, we call it hatching because it does look like a bird coming out of an egg. How's that work? When at what point do they separate from that exoskeleton to grow a butterfly? Now, I will admit, when I was a kid, I always thought, okay, well, they go inside this chrysalis thing or the cocoon and the abdomen must shrink down and they sprout wings and they got their little you know caterpillar head that becomes a butterfly head and they got long legs and then they hatch out and they're they're fine. Here's what really happens, and if you aren't familiar with this, you might want to make sure you can really focus on this because it's kind of mind-blowing. Once they go into chrysalis form, hormones in the system release chemicals and enzymes. What are enzymes? Real quick review basically digestive things. We have enzymes in our saliva, in our stomach, uh, it breaks down proteins and other things, it helps separate uh different carbohydrate strands depending upon the enzymes. Essentially, what happens inside that exoskeleton of the chrysalis is the butterfly digests itself, sort of. It breaks everything down to this primordial goop. Now, years ago, it was thought that that was everything. So brain cells, mouth cell, foot cell, stomach cell, everything just kind of mixing around in the primordial goop. More recent studies suggest that perhaps their neurological system doesn't completely break down, that there is some part of the what is their version of a brain stays in place, then get this. Everything starts to reassign and starts to grow a butterfly. How does it know to do that? So they have found inside the caterpillar from day one, sitting dormant essentially, are these imagineal cells. And it's a cluster or discs, imagineal discs as they call them, cluster of cells that have all the programming for what all that primordial goop, all those loose cells need to do to build a butterfly. So it starts to reconfigure, breaks itself down completely, and then rebuilds itself to become that butterfly. It's crazy to me. It's crazy to me to think that. And so my brain, of course, went to, well, wait a minute. If it's broken down into goop, these cells then tell what everything needs to do to reform. When it comes out as a butterfly, is that day one? Like, is the is the living creature that was a caterpillar just done? And now the butterfly is all new using what the caterpillar gathered in all of its munching and crunching and being the hungry caterpillar? So I was doing some more research, and by research I mean looking for people who've done actual research online, and found that there was a study done where they offered up a very pungent odor that the caterpillars could sense, and when they smelled it, they'd offer up a negative uh stimulus, which is a little bit of electricity to make it uncomfortable for them. And the caterpillars learned when they smell that smell, go the other way, otherwise you'll be uncomfortable. They found about 70% of the butterflies that came out of the chrysalis that went through this study, 70% of them, roughly, had that same response, smelling that same smell was go the other way. They had never had a negative interaction as a butterfly, but as a butterfly, they retained some sort of memory of the negative for that whole situation. And this then makes me wonder, too, when you when you see that, it's like, okay, so there is some memory that transfers over from caterpillar to butterfly. There is belief now from more studies being done that some of the brain or brainstem or their version of their neurological system does stay intact. Is this also what leads into the ability to know what a host plant is when you're a butterfly? Like, how else would the butterfly know I need it like, you know, monarchs? But this is true for many butterfly species. There's a particular plant their larvae need to eat. They will go and they'll pollinate that plant and they'll pollinate other plants, but they'll lay their eggs specifically on a particular plant. So again, the milkweed's a great example for the monarch. So is it that because a caterpillar has munched its whole life on milkweed, going, This is my comfort food, this is delish, that then when it grows up to become a butterfly, it's attracted to go there and say, This is my spot. I remember this, this is where the babies need to be. I don't know. I don't know, but it fascinates me to think that they do retain some memory from caterpillar to butterfly. And then we see that cycle go back through where the butterflies are attracted to those plants. So just, you know, one of those things. Now, with all of that, I will put the links that I found that have this information down below in the show notes. I am not an entomologist. This is not my specialty. My curiosity is my specialty, and my general knowledge of the world around us when it comes to wildlife and animals and nature and everything else. But I just wanted to share because I thought it was timely. You know, my conversation with David reminded me of this fun fact. And also, we're we're in May right now, and we're seeing a lot of butterflies here in North America, across the northern hemisphere. It's kind of that time of year where they're gonna be more active coming around, and we're gonna see crystals eventually, too, and possibly even some cocoons. Remember, cocoons tend to be moths, crystals tend to be butterflies, crystals tend to be hanging from something, but not always, hard on the outside, and then the moth usually is gonna be a spun silk, could be connected to a leaf, connected to a plant in the ground. If you come across either of these in your yard or in the wild in the park, leave it be, because it very well may be a living creature in the middle of being primordial goop, waiting to hatch out to become something even more. So there you have it. The fun fact about what happens inside the cocoon or chrysalis of these amazing creatures. Now, here's my challenge for you. If you found this even remotely interesting, or you know somebody who might find this interesting, or would just like to blow someone's mind with this fun fact, copy the link for wherever you're listening to this or if you're watching on YouTube and send it to somebody so they can have this knowledge, they can have their mind blowing. Share this in a group chat, whether it's on WhatsApp or Facebook or you know, whatever it might be. If you have parents that like to garden, send this to them. Or you have a friend or a kid or a teacher who would like some fun facts for their kids. This is the episode to share because it has that just that, it's just so mind-blowing as far as I'm concerned. I've I've known this for a long time and I still think it's just amazing to think about what goes on inside that crystal cocoon. Now, if you would be so kind, if you haven't already, make sure you subscribe or follow. We have new episodes that come out every Tuesday, 10 minute Tuesday, find animal facts, other interesting things, and then every Thursday, a cool interview with someone doing something awesome. Don't want you to miss that. And of course, Animals Nature and You has its own presence on Instagram. You can catch up with me there. All the links are down below, or you can go to my website, zoologyrick.com. And again, my social media is all down below too. So, with that, I want to thank you for joining me on this curious Odyssey that we call Animals, Nature and You. Have a good one, everybody.