My Caterpillar has spun a cocoon and is lying motionless inside it.
Is he dead??
  
Don Herbison-Evans,
( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Cyana meyricki pupa inside a cocoon)

No, it is probably fine. When a Caterpillar is fully grown, it turns into a pupa or chrysalis, often inside a silk cocoon. This change into a pupa can take several days during which time it looks dead, but actually it working hard inside to begin its change to a moth or butterfly. The pupal stage may then last anything between a week and two years depending on the species and conditions. At the end of that time, if the pupa has not been damaged or attacked, the moth or butterfly emerges.

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(updated 5 September 2001, 23 November 2018)