Animals can be divided into species that undergo complete metamorphosis. Moreover, Nature simply seems to "like" lots of diversity, and life. Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops. In a given area, then, greater numbers of a species can exist if young and old eat different foods, than if they were competing for the same foods. Caterpillars generally eat leaves, while adults may flit around taking nectar from flowers. Insect larvae and their adult forms occupy very different ecological niches. In that article it's suggested that the primary advantage of complete metamorphosis is to eliminate competition between young and old insects of the same species. You can read much more about this in a freely available Scientific American article, " How Did Insect Metamorphosis Evolve?" Much later, around maybe 280 million years ago, insect species appeared displaying a primitive form of metamorphosis that eventually led to complete metamorphosis. The oldest fossil insects may be about 400 million years old, and those species underwent simple metamorphosis. a person or thing that has undergone metamorphosis 4. a complete change of character, appearance, etc 3. They emerge from their pupae with enough nutrients stored in their bodies to carry out a very brief life consisting of finding a member of the opposite sex, mating, and then the male dies, the female lays her eggs, and finally she dies, too! Below is a picture of a member of the Saturniidae, a Polyphemus Moth, Antheraea polyphemus, with no mouth parts. a complete change of physical form or substance 2. Then one day they simply stop eating, go into some kind of daze, and enter their pupal stage, which looks inactive from the outside but which inside is an absolute hurricane of change.įinally one day this dead-looking thing splits like a ruptured watermelon, and what emerges is a creature profoundly obsessed with sex! In a few adult species, such as most members of the moth family Saturniidae, the adults don't even possess mouth parts. Most insects with complete metamorphosis spend most of their lives in a humble, wormy form, doing little more than eating like crazy. * Thrips metamorphosis is between simple and complete INSECT ORDERS UNDERGOING COMPLETE METAMORPHOSIS
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