Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops, including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animals body structure through cell growth and differentiation. It is a series of dramatic physical changes that an organism undergoes as it matures. Some insects, fish, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, cnidarians, echinoderms, and tunicates undergo metamorphosis, which is often accompanied by a change of nutrition source or behavior. Animals can be divided into species that undergo complete metamorphosis ("holometaboly"), incomplete metamorphosis ("hemimetaboly"), or no metamorphosis ("ametaboly") . Generally, organisms with a larval stage undergo metamorphosis, and during metamorphosis, the organism loses larval characteristics.
The term metamorphosis comes from the Greek word for “change of form” . Metamorphosis is especially common in insects, and some insect transformations are more dramatic than others. For example, a crawling, leaf-munching caterpillar can transition into a flying, nectar-sipping butterfly within a few weeks, which is an example of complete metamorphosis. During this type of metamorphosis, insects go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. At each stage, the insect will look completely different. That adult often moves and eats in totally different ways than it did as a pupa. Beetles, flies, bees, ants, and fleas are just a few examples of insects that undergo complete metamorphosis.
In summary, metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops, including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animals body structure through cell growth and differentiation. It is a series of dramatic physical changes that an organism undergoes as it matures. Some insects, fish, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, cnidarians, echinoderms, and tunicates undergo metamorphosis, which is often accompanied by a change of nutrition source or behavior.
