Question: Are butterflys aware that there making their cacoon ? Do they know whats going on?

Remsha Afzal answered on 7 Nov 2018: last edited 7 Nov 2018 6:06 pm

Hi there! This is a fantastic question! Actually its the caterpillars that make the cocoon that then develops into a butterfly. So do the caterpillars know they will become a butterfly?
Cognitive scientists have tried to answer this question because you’re basically asking if the caterpillar is self-aware or ‘conscious’ of itself. This is a VERY difficult question to answer. Because we can barely figure out simple things with bigger animals where we can put probes directly on their brains. We can’t really do that with insects, but we can assume that they aren’t capable of such higher thoughts because they haven’t developed complex brains like bigger animals. For now we think that the caterpillar is just genetically programmed to build a cocoon. If it survives all the dangers of being eaten by birds, and finds enough food and a safe space to make a cocoon, it will make a cocoon. But does it know that its building a cocoon to become a pretty butterfly?! We cant say but for now we think not!
But you know what’s so interesting? Butterflies do have some form of memory from the time they were a caterpillar! Scientists did an experiment where they made a caterpillar smell something and then immediately after it, they would give the caterpillar a teeny little electric shock. They then repeated this. Made it smell something, then gave it a shock. They kept doing it (smell, shock, smell shock) till the caterpillar would quickly crawl away the moment it smelled the smell (without even getting the shock). Then later on, when that caterpillar became a butterfly, and the butterfly was made to smell that smell, it quickly flew away, afraid it will get that shock! Amazing, no?