What is a pupa?
A pupa is nothing more than a stage in the development of a certain individual, characteristic of insects predisposed to complete transformation. While in this state, the insect undergoes a complete change in organs and tissues belonging to the larva into the structures of an adult. As a rule, pupae are motionless, they do not change in size and do not eat food.
Having completed the growth process, the larva stops feeding, switches to a sedentary lifestyle, sheds its skin for the last time and only then turns into a pupa. The appearance of the pupa does not allow it to be called an adult, but it has already acquired a list of characteristics that allow it to be compared with a transformed insect. In most insects, the larva is wrapped in a cocoon before it turns into a pupa. The material for its creation is usually silk. The cocoons of some butterfly species are harvested to create textiles such as silk and mascara. What insects have a pupa? The list of them is quite extensive: the mentioned butterflies, praying mantises, hornets, wasps, chafers, house flies, ants and others. Let's tell you more about some representatives of this group.
Features of different types
In the home, moth larvae are usually divided into clothing moths and food moths. It is easy to understand that the first of them eat dry goods, and the second - groceries. The moth larvae in the photo and in person appear to be exactly the same, but there are differences between them.
food moth
It is not difficult to recognize food moth larvae: they are small worms, white or almost transparent. The head is clearly defined, 2 pairs of legs are located on the first segments of the body, 4 pairs are located on the abdomen. The length of these worms does not exceed 2 cm. The volume of the caterpillar directly depends on the type of food it prefers. If it is fatty food, the faces of the food moth will be thick. If the caterpillar has been on a “diet”, it will be very thin.
On a note!
Food moth caterpillars feed only on food. Damage to furniture or things is not her responsibility. Therefore, those housewives who saw larvae in flour can be calm about the contents of the cabinets. But preventive measures should be carried out regularly, since there is no guarantee that another type of moth that eats fur coats does not live in the house.
Those products in which food moths can easily be found:
- Flour;
- Cereals;
- Dried fruits;
- Nuts;
- Pasta;
- Seeds;
- Candies;
- Cookie.
Food-eating moths and their larvae prefer foods rich in carbohydrates. The jaws of moth caterpillars can gnaw through even the hard shells of grains. You can find out that a pest has settled in the closet by the following signs:
- Cobwebs in rump;
- Tunnels filled with waste products of larvae;
- Lumps in fine grains and flour;
- Leftover skins.
Interesting!
If you disturb the shell of the cocoon or the lumps of grains, you can see what a moth larva looks like curled up in a cocoon. Caterpillars of food moths hardly move; they are often found only in the finished dish.
Larvae can be found wherever conditions are favorable for development and there is suitable food. This insect has already spread throughout the world, where it successfully devours products on various scales: in warehouses, in homes, in stores, in grain processing plants.
Clothes moth
Clothes moth larvae are similar to food caterpillars, but they are impossible to detect in the kitchen. Only items containing keratin are suitable for them to eat. This can be down, hair, wool and feathers. In our homes these insects feed on:
- Woolen clothes;
- Fur coats;
- Carpets;
- Felt products;
- Natural edge on collars;
- Feather or down pillows.
Depending on where the caterpillars “graze”, there are furniture, wool, fur, or carpet moth larvae. Similar to their food brethren, they build their houses from what they live in: fluff, hairs, small hairs. It is very difficult to notice a hidden larva; this can be done by indirect signs:
- Holes in clothes;
- "Bald spots" in furs;
- Spools – cocoons;
- Moves in carpets or upholstery.
Important!
Even shoes can be eaten by moth larvae. Not all, but made of fur or felt. The insect eats felt boots and insoles.
Clothes moths are no less common than food moths.
Butterfly
When answering the question about what insects have pupae, you should pay attention to butterflies. Immediately after formation, the pupa of this insect remains open: its small legs and wings adhere very loosely to the body and can be easily bent.
However, the soft outer shell hardens quite quickly, and the limbs are firmly glued to the body with a special liquid. Upon superficial examination, the pupa is very similar to a caterpillar, but if you are careful, you can notice some features of an adult butterfly: the makings of wings, a sketch of the head, abdomen, proboscis and antennae. The durable shell of the pupa, as a rule, is devoid of hair, but in some species of butterflies there are still individuals decorated with a small amount of hair.
What insects have a pupa besides the butterfly?
Reproduction and transformation
The mating season of butterflies is characterized by courtship. It is very interesting to watch the aerial dances of insects.
Housefly
The female of this insect is capable of laying up to 120 eggs at a time, and over the course of her life this number increases to two thousand if the environment is favorable. The egg develops completely within 8-50 hours. The housefly is an insect prone to complete transformation. Its larvae reach a length of thirteen millimeters, have no legs, the shape on the side of the mouth is pointed, and the tip is truncated. They live in feces, as well as in other rotting substances with a semi-liquid structure.
After about two weeks, the larva completes its last molt and crawls to a secluded place, where it turns into a pupa. This phase of the life of a housefly lasts about three days. An adult lives up to a month, but under favorable conditions this period can double. After one and a half days after the completion of the transformation, the fly is able to reproduce.
Besides flies, what insects have a pupa? There are enough of them.
What do moth larvae eat?
The diet of a moth larva is determined by its species. In nature, larvae feed on animal hair, bird feathers, vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts, and grains. A food moth larva living in an apartment can eat:
- flour;
- cereals;
- bran;
- cereals;
- legumes;
- pasta;
- cookie;
- nuts and seeds;
- dried fruits;
- candies and chocolate.
As for other species, that is, the larvae of clothes, fur, carpet and furniture moths, they feed on:
- natural fabrics (cotton, wool, linen, silk);
- fur;
- synthetic fabrics, if they contain natural fibers.
Even though the larva is tiny and eats very little, a large colony of parasites can cause serious damage to things.
Ant
When looking for information about which insects have a pupa, you may encounter ants. Their life begins with the appearance of an egg, from which larvae very quickly emerge.
By itself, it practically does not move; it is looked after by working individuals: fed, transferred to special “rooms”. Having gone through all the larval stages, the future ant pupates. The insect is not able to independently get rid of the shell covering the pupa, so adults help it finally emerge into the world.
Titles
The larvae of some groups of animals have special names. Usually, when talking about a species of animal, without specifying the stage to which it belongs, or when talking about a species as a whole, the name of the adult form is used, for example: “butterflies are an order of insects with complete metamorphosis.”
Insects
Other invertebrates
Vertebrates
Sawfly larva Tenthredo marginella (false caterpillar)
insect stage
An adult, fully formed insect emerging from the pupa is called an “imago.” At this stage of butterfly development, the magical metamorphosis ends. The pupa acquires an oily-transparent shell approximately a day before the insect emerges from it. Then the imago crawls out, tearing the hard covers. Generally, females come out later than males. When they harden, straighten out, and the final color appears on them, then the insect will take off. The adult is sexually mature and can reproduce. This sequence of butterfly development allows it to respond to changes occurring in nature. For example, on the improvement or deterioration of climatic conditions, amount of precipitation, temperature conditions.
So, having figured out how a butterfly develops, we have solved another mystery in nature - how the magical transformation from an unsightly green caterpillar into a beautiful flying insect actually became possible.
The phase of insect development with complete transformation, during which the metamorphosis of the larval organization into the adult organization takes place. In accordance with the depth of the processes of histolysis and histogenesis, the pupa loses the ability to move and only in some neuropteroids and caddisflies, characterized by shallow metamorphosis, does it retain some mobility and the ability to move.
There are pupae: free
(open), the appendages of which are not fused to the body;
covered, covered with a cuticular sheath with a relief of appendages not separated from the body; hidden
(or punaria), which under the unshed and barrel-shaped cuticle of the last instar larva hide a typical free pupa. In some insects with incomplete metamorphosis (male scale insects, whiteflies, thrips), the need for radical transformations of the nymphal organization into the adult organization leads to the development of resting phases comparable to the pupa.
a - free (caddisfly), b - covered (butterflies), c and d - puparia and the free pupa of higher dipterans enclosed in it, respectively
All terms on
A sticky substance used for fixing insects in pheromone and color traps, for adhesive rings applied to trunks and skeletal branches...
Where does the hawk moth live?
First of all, let us highlight the fact that they are very heat-loving. For this reason, they are especially abundant in tropical countries. In the middle zone, moths are less common. About 50 species can be found in Russia. They all love vegetation and live in forests. But there are exceptions: the turanga hawk moth loves the deserts of Central Asia.
Butterflies are awake at night. During the day, they all hide in the thick bark of trees. But the lilac hawk moth can feed around the clock. Before flying, butterflies have to flap their wings for a long time to warm their bodies. This is due to the fact that moths are cold-blooded.
In warm regions, butterflies are found all year round. When it is cold in the middle zone, they hide in a pupa, which is preserved in the soil or in moss.
When it gets cold, the madder tongue migrates to warm countries from Northern Europe.
It is worth noting that sometimes the migration of butterflies is caused not by a decrease in temperature, but by overpopulation of the area.
Some species of this butterfly live in the desert
Caterpillar stage
The butterfly larva is a worm-like caterpillar. She has a pronounced gnawing mouthparts. The caterpillar has a special secretion that hardens in air and forms a silk thread. The larvae are mainly phytophagous, that is, their food is flowers, leaves and fruits of plants.
There are also types of caterpillars that eat the larvae of ants, aphids and mealybugs. These species are predators. On the body of the caterpillar there are 10 abdominal segments with five pairs of thick legs and 3 thoracic segments with three pairs of jointed legs. The body has smooth skin with spikes, warts and hairs. Caterpillars usually live on the ground, trees, and bushes, but some of them, such as broad-winged moths, can live underwater. They can be divided into two large groups:
- caterpillars prone to a free lifestyle;
- caterpillars prone to a hidden lifestyle.
The latter construct portable cases from silky thread in which they live. They carry it on themselves and hide in it. Also, caterpillars build themselves a cigar-shaped cover from leaves in the form of a shelter, having previously secured it with silk thread. The development cycle of a butterfly at this stage can last several years. Caterpillars in northern latitudes may enter a state of diapause until next summer. For example, the life cycle of the larvae of the seaweed, which lives in Greenland, can last up to 14 years.
