Why do caterpillars metamorphose?

[Karlos]

It strikes me that it ought to be obvious that not all of the organism is broken down into nutrient, no matter how much digestive juices are released. Some component must remain intact. If it were not the case, surely there'd be nothing left to grow into the adult form :-?

[bloodline]

Karlos wrote:
It strikes me that it ought to be obvious that not all of the organism is broken down into nutrient, no matter how much digestive juices are released. Some component must remain intact. If it were not the case, surely there'd be nothing left to grow into the adult form :-?

See my post below :-)

[motorollin]

I don't see how leaving parts behind would make a difference. If the larva has learned some behaviour, then this information would be stored in memory. Even if the brain of the larva remained intact and were re-used in the adult, presumably the digestion of the body would result in brain death since there would be no oxygen or nourishment supplied to the brain tissues once the larval body had been destroyed.

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moto