Question

Young insects undergo certain changes to become adults. Define this change. Compare the life cycle of a grasshopper with that of a butterfly.

Answer 1

Hint: Animals, especially those belonging to kingdom Arthropoda, undergo a series of changes through different stages until it reaches the adult stage. These changes are important in these organisms' life cycle since they are closely related to the adaptive mechanisms they adopt for minimizing the external stress factors. Some organisms undergo a series of changes with several intermediate stages while some others will have just one stage.

Complete answer:
The series of changes young insects undergo before reaching the adult stage is known as metamorphosis. This process helps in reducing the competition among organisms and also in utilizing the resources which are different in different stages. The organisms undergoing metamorphosis possess different morphological appearances in different stages. There are two kinds of metamorphosis, complete and incomplete.
-In the life cycle of grasshoppers, there occurs only three stages of development, which are egg, nymph, and adult stage. The nymphs resemble the adult grasshopper in appearance, but they are devoid of wings and reproductive organs. Due to this reason, the metamorphosis of grasshoppers is considered incomplete.

-In the case of butterflies, the metamorphosis involves several intermediate stages. The stage is the egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. The larvae of butterflies are known as caterpillars which have a worm-like appearance, while the pupae is the stage developing inside a cocoon which gets developed into adult butterflies. Since all these stages are morphologically different, the process is known as complete metamorphosis.

Note: Many arthropods undergo the process of metamorphosis such as cockroaches. Amphibians like frogs also undergo this change, which helps them in increasing their survival rates, the larvae of frogs are known as tadpoles.