illustration of the discs in the caterpillar, and their expression as sections of butterfly legs

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   benteh (benteh@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 23-May-2023 05:38:10 JST benteh

   in reply to

   🦋 fabulous things i know about nature. 8/? #amazingNature 🦋

   i was an adult before i _really_ understood butterfly metamorphosis and it gobsmacks me every time i think about it.

   the caterpillar has some "discs" that it doesn't need, but are only expressed once it becomes a butterfly. in the pupae, when the caterpillar dissolves itself, everything is a gooey soup except for those discs >