INSECT METAMORPHOSIS.

   The insects are fascinating organisms that astonish and surprise the human, by their different forms, size, color, as well as by the physical, morphological and reproductive adjustments they are making to cope with the environmental changes in the course of time. One of these strategies that the insects adopt is the metamorphosis, that is  a change of their form through different cycles during their life. The stages or cycles through which they pass during the metamorphosis are: egg, larvae, nymph and adult.

The insects adopt colors and forms to camouflage in the environment.

    Sometimes the changes are very small from the cycle of the young to the adult, the significant change is basically in the size. This phenomenon is known as simple metamorphosis and is given, among others, in bedbugs and plant lice. In other cases, the young individuals and the adults are very different, in form, size and habits. This is known as complete metamorphosis and can be observed in flies, mosquitoes and butterflies.

    With the simple metamorphosis the insects that have young individuals, called nymphs, are very similar to the adults. If they are insects with wings, the last ones develop externally during the immature stages, there is no nymph stage before reaching the final size.
 

The adaptability to the environment of the insects is a benefit to increase their reproduction.

    On the contrary, with the complete metamorphosis there is an intermediate stage before the shedding when the nymph, which is usually a still insect, undergoes an important trasformation to its adult form; if it belongs to a species with wings, the last ones develop internally. They have some habits and life form during the larval cycle totally different from the adult stage. This way they usually avoid different adversities such as drought, heat, cold. This requires some significant internal changes. During the metamorphosis, these changes depend on the activity of these organs during different cycles. This way the heart, the nervous system and the trachea system change very little. Others are present in a rudimentary way in the larva or the nonexistent develop inside the nymph to appear later inside the adult individuals; it is the case of the reproductive system.

When the insects adapt themselves to the environment they procreate with major intensity and turn into plagues.

   The advantage of the metamorphosis is that allows the insects to live in different conditions and environments and to colonize various habitats, allowing them to run away from adverse situations. The larvae do not move a lot and dedicate their time to feed themselves, accumulating maximum energy; on the other hand the adults can move through much  greater areas. This makes more difficult controlling the plague and eliminating these insects in their adult stage.