Type Of Insects In Cocoons

When the marjority of people stop to think about a cocoon they automatically think about moths and butterflies. While these “insects” definitely use cocoons, you should know that there are a lot of other kinds of insects that also use cocoons. These insects are called holometabolic insdects because they undergo holometabolism, which is also known as a complete metamorphism. This includes 4 life stages.

Type of insects in Cocoon

These stages of life include:

1. An embryo, which is the “egg stage” of an insect’s life.
2. The larva stage is when the insect finally comes out of the embryo as a baby.
3. When the baby insect enters into the pupa stage is when it will build a cocoon around itself.
4. The imago stage is the last stage of the insect’s metamorphosis.

It is at this time that the insect will emerge from its cocoon as an adult insect with fully functional wings and a fully functional sexual reproduction system.

As you can clearly see here, there is a complete state of metamorphisis that an insect must go through. There is a lot more to this than them simply entering into a cocoon and then emerging as an adult insect.

Basically, if you consider the life cycle of a butterfly, you will understand that the embryo grows inside of the egg. This egg will then hatch into the larval stage as a caterpillar. From there, the caterpillar will enter into the pupal stage wherein it will enter into a chrysalis, which is also known as a cocoon. When it finally emerges from the cocoon it will be an adult butterfly.




Some of the other insects that build cocoons are:

  • Beetles
  • Flies
  • Ants
  • Bees
  • Wasps
  • Fleas
  • Some parasites

Of course, this is not complete list. It is only a list of the most commonly known insects that build cocoons.