Ruud Streefkerk

During her lifetime, a female butterfly lays as many eggs as possible, but of every hundred eggs, between 95 and 99 individuals die before they are able to mate and deposit eggs themselves. The remaining 1 to 5% survives and that is enough to secure the next generation. At their last peeling the caterpillars strip off their last skin and turn into a pupa. They can do this hanging from a branch or leaf, but many caterpillars leave their host plant to pupate on- or in the ground or the litter-layer.There are also species that attach themselves to the host plant, for which they spin a silky cocoon, such as the silk-worm. It seems as if the pupa is dead, it hangs from the stem and does not move. Nevertheless, it may certainly give a sign of life, if one touches them they will move with their abdomen and some make a rattling sound. Inside the pupa, the caterpillar is converted into a butterfly. How this takes place exactly is not yet known, but it is certain that almost all body parts of the caterpillar are annihilated. From these substances the butterfly is made up.