Skip to content

You are using an outdated browser

Internet Explorer is not supported by this site and Microsfot has stopped releasing updates, therefore you may encounter issues whilst visiting this site and we strongly recommend that you upgrade your browser for modern web functionality, a better user experience and improved security.

Upgrade my browser

Watch as this little caterpillar transforms into a magnificent moth

Source: Facebook/Dodo/Grochowalski

To metamorphose into a moth or butterfly a caterpillar must first digest itself—but certain groups of cells survive, turning the soup into eyes, wings, antennae and other adult structures.

Lifecycle of a Chinese Luna Moth

Follow the growth of the Chinese Luna Moth (Actias dubernardi) from egg, to caterpillar, to cocoon, to adult. This 3-minute video covers approximately 70–85 days of development, filmed by insect YouTuber Adam Grochowalski.

Watch this caterpillar turn into a Chinese luna moth The 3-minute film follows the growth of the Chinese Luna Moth (Actias dubernardi) from egg, to caterpillar, to cocoon, to adult. The film covers approximately 70–85 days of development, Source: YouTube/TheDodo/Grochowalski

Adam Grochowalski loves getting up close to insects

Adam Grochowalski is, by education, an analytical chemist, currently a scientific research worker at the Kraków University of Technology.

However, entomology, partly botany and photography, are the passions of his life. He tries to combine them into one and spends all his free time photographing nature, especially insects and plants. 

His favourite field is macrophotography. He says, “I take photographs of insects mainly in nature, but I breed many species at home to be able to capture their various development stages. It’s wonderful if something crawls on the wall or the ceiling.”

Grochowalski’s work has been exhibited many times, both in Poland and abroad.

Check out the galleries of his work with other butterflies and moths, flies and wasps, beetles, plants and fungi, and more…

Scroll down to watch full 16-minute version of the metamorphosis of the Chinese Luna Moth.

Source: Grochowalski.pl

The caterpillar, or what is more scientifically termed a larva, stuffs itself with leaves, growing plumper and longer through a series of molts in which it sheds its skin.
The story begins with a very hungry caterpillar hatching from an egg The caterpillar, or what is more scientifically termed a larva, stuffs itself with leaves, growing plumper and longer through a series of molts in which it sheds its skin. Source: YouTube/TheDodo/Grochowalski
One day, the caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon or molts into a shiny chrysalis. Within its protective casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging as a butterfly or moth.
…and even changes colour! One day, the caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon or molts into a shiny chrysalis. Within its protective casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging as a butterfly or moth. Source: YouTube/TheDodo/Grochowalski
One study suggests that moths remember what they learned in later stages of their lives as caterpillars.
Some caterpillars walk around with tiny rudimentary wings tucked inside their bodies One study suggests that moths remember what they learned in later stages of their lives as caterpillars. Source: YouTube/TheDodo/Grochowalski

Actias dubernardi, Chinese Luna Moth ‘The film shows details of the full development of this moth. I strongly recommend watching the movie on a TV screen 4K.’ — Thank you, Adam Source: YouTube/Grochowalski
Make an Impact

25 INTIMATE INSECT IMAGES BY AWARD-WINNING AUSTRIAN PHOTOGRAPHER

Julian Rad is a talented 27-year-old wildlife photographer and filmmaker from Austria who captures amazing nature, wildlife and animal photography.