
A monarch caterpillar is shown in 6 stages of shedding until the skin falls away and a chrysalis begins to take shape. The first stage happens after the caterpillar has fastened itself with silk to a branch and hangs in the shape of a J. Then the skin of the caterpillar slowly splits and moves upward until the crinkled skin drops off because of the wiggling movement of the caterpillar. What is left is a chrysalis which dries and shrinks a bit.