Low oxygen and metamorphosis of caterpillars

2011/08/30 Kortabitarte Egiguren, Irati - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Biologia
• Zoologia

Caterpillars innovate four or five times their exoskeleton to become a butterfly. But how do you know when it's time or time? A study recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has clarified this.

In this research, led by Dr. Fred Nijhout of Duke University, researchers measured the respiratory tract of the sixth Manduca caterpillars and saw that the respiratory apparatus of caterpillars is fixed in each phase of growth development. The rest of the caterpillars' body grow, but not the respiratory system. Consequently, over time the insect begins to suffocate and the only way to continue growing with this low oxygen level is by renewing the exoskeleton. After the process is repeated, the caterpillar becomes a butterfly through metamorphosis.

Image courtesy of: Daniel Schwen