Name: ________________________________________________________________________

Topic: Life Cycle of Organisms

Science Trivia
Did you know that..
 A ladybird might eat more than 5,000 insects in its lifetime!
 Fruit flies were the first living creatures to be sent into space.
 Dragonflies have been on earth for 300 million years!
 Caterpillars have 12 eyes!
 Mosquitoes are attracted to smelly feet!

COMPLETE METAMORPHOSIS
Life Cycle of the House Fly

Life Cycle of the Butterfly

Life Cycle of Animals that Undergo Complete Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis - the biological process of transformation from an immature form to an
adult form in two or more distinct stages.
 refers to the way insects develop, grow, and change form, usually (but not always)
accompanied by change of habitual or behavior.
 it is part of the life cycle of the most insects.
Life Cycle -the series of changes in the life of an organism including reproduction.
Two Types of Metamorphosis(Complete and Incomplete Metamorphosis)
1. Complete Metamorphosis
- most insects go through the four stages of complete metamorphosis, including the
butterfly, mosquito, housefly and frog.
- occurs through four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
Four Stages of Complete Metamorphosis
A. Egg – a female insect lays egg.
B. Larva or Larvae – hatch from egg but do not look like adult insects.
For instance, the larvae of butterflies are called caterpillars. Larvae grows quickly enough
to have to molt or shed their exoskeletons a few times before they pupate. Sometimes,
these stages of growth in larvae are called “instars”.
C. Pupa – larvae makes cocoon around themselves and become busy changing into their
adult forms. They do not eat during this time. This can take few days, or some cases
months. The animal inside the cocoon is called chrysalis.
D. Adult – after a period, larvae is nothing like it was, and exists the cocoon or larval
body as an adult. This life cycle starts over again.

2. Incomplete Metamorphosis or Gradual Metamorphosis

About 12% of insects go through the three stages of gradual metamorphosis, including
the mayfly, cicada, grasshopper, aphid, louse and cockroach.
Three Stages of Incomplete Metamorphosis
A. Egg – a female insect lays eggs.
- sometimes the eggs are in group and protected by covering or case.
B. Nymph – the eggs hatch into nymphs.
- it looks like small adults, but usually don’t have wings.
- they eat, grow and change.
- they molt their exoskeletons as they grow. As this occurs, they gradually begin to look
more and more like adult.
C. Adult – once the nymph has grown to an adult size, they stop molting. Generally,
adults are the only stage in an insect’s life when it has wings.
Life Cycle of Animals: Egg Laying Animals
The Chicken Egg
The egg yolk is kept in place by the egg white that is thick and sticky. The egg yolk’s
white spot is the developing chick. The egg white protects the developing chick from any
danger, while the eggshell protects the egg yolk and the egg white