Name two good
reasons for a butterfly to start out as a
caterpillar.
Well, we only had about 10 folks willing to go on record for this BUG-Quiz question. But it was rather difficult... Here's some of their answers:
J Y & L W Age: 14 School: Mary Miller Jr. High City: Georgetown IL, said: "so they can grow and learn how to get food before they learn how to fly."
P B Age: 15 School: Summit High City: Summit NJ, said: "Conserve energy - metamorphosis"
R P Age: 15 School: Rochester High School City: Rochester IN, said: "Butterflies start out as caterpillars so they can store enough energy that is needed in order for metamorphosis to take place."
R B Age: 14 School: Norfolk Collegiate School Norfolk, VA, said: "They need to find a good place to start off as a butterfly. Second, they don't have enough energy to metamorphose, so they have to start out as something that would get great deals of energy and not use much of it to be able to metamorphose."
B F Age (really old) City: New York, NY, said: "1. So they know how to be humble 2. So they can eat a lot and get really fat without worry about their appearance 3. It's hard to get those wings into a chrysalis." ( BF seems to have some problems that are beyond BUGMAN's ability to help! - Good thing he's a friend!!)
J W Age: 16 School: Otter Valley City: Whiting VT, said: "I think butterflies start out as caterpillars so they can learn to survive. Otherwise they would have to learn to eat and how to fly. This way they can stay away from predators, and they won't get blown away in the wind when they try to fly."
S & B M Age: 11 School: Maldonado Elm City: Tucson AZ, said: "We think one of the reasons is because they have to learn how to shed it's skin, and also how to be a kid and eat and grow. They have to learn how to live and grow in the world by themselves."
J S Age: 14 School: Mary Miller Jr. High (that's two from this school! Nice job!!) City: Georgetown IL, said: "Because it lets them develop more, and so you can ask this question." (Hahaha! Reason #2 doesn't count!)
B F Age: 15 School: Republic High School City: Republic MO, said: "To help out some ant species that need the caterpillars to get food and the caterpillars need them for protection when they are in the cocoon."
S Y Age: 13 School: Miller Junior High City: Cupertino CA, said: "One- Because they when they are born they are small and to grow bigger they need to molt or shed their skin. Their wings would be really small if they were the size when they hatched." This is a pretty good answer SY!
T M Age: 48 School: FH Northern City: Grand Rapids MI, said: "Food sources available early in the season." Boy, we love it when the big kids get involved!!
These were all swell answers! And between everyone who answered, they pretty much nailed this one. Here's what BUGMAN says about the metamorphosis of butterflies:
This was kinda tough. You can fall easily into the trap of trying to "prove" why something is the way it is. Scientists usually believe that nothing can be proven. We can only collect enough evidence to convince ourselves it is correct. However, someday, someone could come along and dis-prove our theory. Scientific ideas can be dis-proven. When you consider something as remarkable and complex as caterpillar metamorphosis (changing from one form to another), we can only speculate as to the reasons for this phenomenon! Here's what BUGMAN says:
Caterpillars focus their energy on eating and growing. They grow very fast! Butterflies focus their energy on spreading out and reproducing. They don't grow at all. So the two stages split the duties and get the most for their energy. They also eat different food. If a butterfly tried to eat the same food its caterpillar eats, they would both run out of food and starve. So they manage their resources effectively.
Now, of course, a butterfly has large wings. It would be very difficult to fit them into an egg small enough to come out of a female butterfly! Since they only have their wings when they are full grown, they cannot be born that big. A caterpillar starts off very small - small enough to fit into a butterfly egg! But, since they don't have wings or walk fast, they often never leave the plant they hatched out on. So the butterfly's job is to move around and find new food resources for the next generation of caterpillars.
The metamorphosis of a butterfly is a very complex, fascinating process that works really well. It works so well, that we generally stop at marveling at the phenomenon and never consider its importance for the survival of these beautiful animals!