What happens to a caterpillar brain during metamorphosis?

And I dug out a paper from the early 90s, in what used to be the Journal of Neurobiology, now called Developmental Neurobiology, that describes what changes occur in the CNS of moths during metamorphosis from caterpillars through imago (adult), going through the pupa stage. read more

Basically, three things can happen to any given neuron in the central nervous system. It's a really complex proccess! A) some neurons are born very early in the caterpillar's life (embryonically) but are quiescent until adulthood - during metamorphosis, these neurons put on their game face and start to do real work in adulthood. read more

Getting a look at this metamorphosis as it happens is difficult; disturbing a caterpillar inside its cocoon or chrysalis risks botching the transformation. But Michael Cook, who maintains a fantastic website about silkworms, has some incredible photos of a Tussah silkmoth (Antheraea penyi) that failed to spin a cocoon. read more