butterflies. But what happens inside a chrysalis? What creates those little abominations?

Here’s what doesn’t happen: caterpillars slowly morph into butterflies, growing wings,

eyes, etc in the process.

Nope! It’s actually a lot grosser than that:

A caterpillar’s own digestive juices dissolve its body, turning it into a soup of proteins

with some random body parts thrown in.

Aww, caterpillar soup...just like my aunt Sheila used to make!

Anyway, that soup also includes cells called “imaginal discs” which grow into butterfly

structures like wings while the body re-forms. Bake at 375 on the bottom rack for a few more

minutes, and voila, a butterfly!

The craziest part is that in spite of turning into goop and back again, butterflies can

retain memories from their caterpillar days. Which means that somehow, some nerve connections

survive that change. The scientific conclusion here is: don’t be a jerk to a caterpillar,

or it’ll hate you forever as a butterfly. Like tiny things that might hate you?

Watch my video on viruses. I’m going to play like a second or two of that for you

now. So click real fast. Did you miss your chance? Click now to subscribe.