The way your body works now is not the way it has always worked. Think about it—today, your voice might be a little deeper, you might be a little taller, and you might even think differently than you did just a few years ago. This process of how an organism changes through time is called development.
By Karla Moeller
Illustrated by Sabine Deviche
What’s a Manduca?
The grass scratches your feet and the sun warms your back as you walk through the park. A ladybug lands on your arm. You raise your hand, tell it to "fly away home," and watch as it opens its wings and disappears into the sky. Insects are everywhere. While we notice some, like ladybugs, thousands of others walk or fly around unnoticed.
This set of bits will teach you about the set of changes insects and some other animals experience during development: metamorphosis.
Carole Flores
In each stage of complete metamorphosis, the animal looks different than at all other stages. This is different from incomplete metamorphosis where the early stages of development look like tiny versions of the adult. Butterflies are an example of an insect that goes through all the stages of complete metamorphosis.
