Day 20: caterpillars weave silk too

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Metamorphosis Watch: Day 20  

Today, we take a closer look at the silk pad or button the monarch butterfly caterpillar spun, its last official responsibility as a larva. The spinneret is located below the mouth and when the pad is finished, the caterpillar turns around to grasp it with its anal prolegs followed by the insertion of the black stemlike cremaster located on its rear end. The anal prolegs fall off with the molted skin. 

Spiders weave silk as well, but an hour's work for them is far less critical than the hour or so it takes a monarch caterpillar to create the anchoring silk pad. For up to ten days, the chrysalis must hang from it through all kinds of adverse weather.

Will it hold tight?  Stay tuned.

Monarch caterpillar spinning the silk pad with its front end

Monarch caterpillar grasping the silk pad with its rear end

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