INSECT METAMORPHOSIS SIMULATION

Inside the chrysalis the caterpillar all but dissolves: most larval tissue is broken down and the adult wings and legs grow out of imaginal discs that were already sitting inside it. Temperature changes the tempo of the whole cycle, but the real drivers are two hormones: each ecdysone surge is one molt, while high juvenile hormone means every molt still yields a larva. Incomplete metamorphosis drops the pupal stage entirely, and a grasshopper goes straight from nymph to adult.

▸ Placing eggs on a leaf…
▸ Linking the 4 stages egg→larva→pupa→butterfly
▸ Starting hormones JH & ecdysone
▸ Calibrating speed by temperature
▸ Ready — Online. ✅
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Simulation room Insect metamorphosis

Metamorphosis
Online
JH · ecdysone
Hormones & stage
🦋 Metamorphosis control
JH declines → allows metamorphosis
Stage—
Progress—
Temperature—
Juvenile hormone JH—
Ecdysone—
Metamorphosis type—
Notes
High JH keeps the larval form; JH drops → molts yield a pupa → butterfly. An ecdysone pulse = one molt.
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Adjust temperature & scrub the progress in the right column · try “incomplete” & diapause · click a stage for details
Your browser has not enabled canvas — cannot render the simulation.
Hormones over time JHecdysone
About Metamorphosis

Inside the chrysalis the caterpillar all but dissolves: most larval tissue is broken down and the adult wings and legs grow out of imaginal discs that were already sitting inside it. Temperature changes the tempo of the whole cycle, but the real drivers are two hormones: each ecdysone surge is one molt, while high juvenile hormone means every molt still yields a larva. Incomplete metamorphosis drops the pupal stage entirely, and a grasshopper goes straight from nymph to adult.

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