Insect Development (Metamorphosis)

Insects reproduce sexually when the male deposits sperm in a special sac in the body of the female. The egss and sperm do not combine until the female is ready to deposit her eggs. She lays hundreds, sometimes thousands, of eggs. Even though a large number of eggs never develop into adults, the massive number of eggs guarantees many offspring.

Once a fertilized egg is laid, development begins. There are two patterns of development, or metamorphosis, in which insects mature from egg to adult: incomplete and complete.

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Incomplete Metamorphisis

• The egg is laid.
• The egg hatches into a nymph, a young insect that looks like an adult but lacks wings.
• The growing nymph molts many times.
• After each molt the nymph has larger wings and looks more like an adult insect.
• The nymph eventually changes into an adult

Complete Metamorphisis

• The egg is laid.
• The egg hatches into a larva, a young, wormlike insect.
• The larva eats large amounts of food and molts many times.
• The larva changes into a pupa, an inactive stage during which many changes take place that turn the insect into an adult.
• The adult emerges from the pupa.