Insects Through The Winter (1968)

[Music] in the spring insects emerge from places  such as woods and Fields and Waters most insects like the dragonfly spend  their summers in search of food like the preying Mattis they feed grow and  reproduce their species the Mattis is a carnivore feeding on other insects such as the dragonfly the Mattis Praise on the dragonfly  even though they are both predators both of these insects are  adapted to feeding on other animals but how do these species live  through the winter when they do not feed each one has adaptations which allow it  to survive the cold months let's examine some of the ways in which the Mantis  and other species of insects spend the winter this female na matd is head down on a  twig adult mantids usually die soon after the cold sets in but before that they reproduce  after mating the female Mattis Builds an egg case this case is made of a sticky substance  secreted from the mat's body and attached to a tree or limb the egg case is built up slowly  from the substance then about 200 eggs will be laid within it the eggs protected in this  case allow the species to survive this is a completed egg case the eggs are safe within but  mantids are not the only species which survive in this way many other kinds of insects build  egg cases which can be seen hanging from limbs during the winter some insects lay their eggs  in unprotected places these aphids have laid their eggs on the bark of a tree yet these  eggs are adapted to survive exposed to the elements the caterpillar of the swallowtail  butterfly has another way of living through the winter it will form a chrysalis which will hang  from a branch all through the cold months first it must attach itself to a tree it wraps a silken  covering around the twig to which it will hold butterflies like this one use their  silk only to hold themselves onto the limb but moth caterpillars enclose themselves in  cocoons of silk which protect them through the winter when the caterpillar has covered The  Twig with silk it attaches its false feet to the strands now the cat pillar begins to secure the  top of its body with one fine thread after another it builds up a thick strand of silk fashioned  in a loop around its body the fibers are laid together until the loop is sturdy and secure  this will be its main attachment through the winter then the caterpillar crawls inside the loop and bends backward the loop  Works something like a safety belt now the chrysalis or Pupa is ready to form the skin begins to break open near the head just as it did during molting but now  instead of being slued off the skin hardens the Chrysalis attached at the bottom  and held by its loop at the top is now almost formed this is the way it will spend the winter other insects like these flies  pass the winter as adults in a kind of hibernation many others winter around the  tree trees on which they live during the summer when the trees shed their leaves  in the autum some larv simply crawl down out of the branches and into  the fallen leaves to spend the winter here they burrow in the soft  cover and lie dormant as pupy until spring a few grasshoppers also go through the  winter hidden in the fallen leaves and grass but most adult grasshoppers die leaving eggs  that will hatch so each species is adapted to pass the winter adults are undercover beneath  the snow eggs and pey are hanging in protected cases many of these egg cases and cocoons can  be seen during the winter after the leaves have fallen from the trees these cases are almost as  various as the insects that make them eggs too can often be seen during the winter just  where they were laid within them life is being preserved although no insects can be seen  each species is alive beneath loose bark many different insects may be found this is an ideal  place for some species like ladybird Beatles if they are Disturbed they may move enough to  show that they are still alive they may begin to search for other shelter but other insects  are completely inactive in one way or another each species survives the winter occasionally  insects are even seen on the snow but this is rare for few of them are active in mild climates  some adult butterflies like the Vanessa may live all through the winter in places where the  winters are cold there's almost no insect activity but eventually the ice begins to  melt and the streams begin to run again the spring returns and green plants begin to grow  eggs that were laid on the tree bark begin to hatch One By One The Young break through  the egg cases and begin the larval stage of their lives remember the Chrysalis formed last  fall it now cracks and a swallowtail butterfly emerges it stretches its  legs for the first time as it climbs it hangs upside down from a twig  until its wings have spread and dried the wing veins slowly fill with fluid  from the butterflies body and grow Stiff The Butterfly climbs higher it flutters half  climbing and half flying up the branches and then it flies the egg case which the preying mantis  left last fall is now punctured and the newly hatched young begin to crawl out  more than a 100 emerged from this single case they lower themselves from  the case on threads of silk which they spin soon many of them are scrambling and  moving away clamoring over one another as they go each newborn Mattis looks almost  like its parents they will change little except in size during the summer the  life of the species has been preserved within the egg case these mantids like  all of the other species have survived the winter now they will begin another  part of their year they will grow mate and reproduce now all of the insects  begin a new cycle of Seasons another year