Nature's 3D Printer: MIND BLOWING Cocoon in Rainforest - Smarter Every Day 94

Hey, it's me, Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day! So, we just got off this boat, and we're gonna walk for about an hour in the jungle to find a moth pupa.

Okay, Phil just found it. So, what are we looking at here? This here is the pupa of a moth called a year oded moth. Now, the moth itself isn't that special-looking, but this pupa here is just incredible. So that's the chrysalis inside. Yep, so that's the actual pupa inside, and then on the outside is the cocoon.

Most moths will make a really strongly woven silk cocoon and try to hide, but this guy has a different strategy. Instead, it just dangles almost a foot down from the leaf, and then it makes its cocoon there. That probably protects it more from ants than anything else. It seems so counterintuitive to build something like that. It's almost like, "Hey guys, check me out. Oh crap, whoever's leaning on ya!"

Oh my hat! Where? Oh yeah, Seder! A Seder! I can only think about these ants right now. Are you using a macro lens?

Phil: "I'm just using a 105 macro."

Destin: "So, you can see the fine structure? That's awesome! But this cocoon is really one of a kind! You can actually find these guys up in North America. Look, so how does he... okay, so he's gonna become a moth, right?

So how does he get out? Once he's out, it kind of looks like... if you look at the bottom there, it almost looks like a little escape shaft. So, it's possible that once it comes out as a moth, it'll just shoot right down.

Do you want to put your finger under so we can see the scale? You get your manicure ready for this?

Phil: "Yeah, cleaning my nail."

Destin: "Cool! Okay, so please make this transition with me. As soon as I got back from the Amazon, I had to go to a wedding reception. As I'm sitting there making small talk with this guy, I start explaining this beautiful cocoon I found in the rainforest because it made such a huge impact on me.

I explained that if a cocoon is to keep predators out, why would I put holes all in my cocoon? The guy said something that shocked me. He goes, "Oh, that's interesting! I happen to be a butterfly farmer! I've come here to Mr. John's house, and I brought my kids with me." John Owens has one of two butterfly farms in Alabama. He's going to show us a little bit about cocoons.

Destin: "How do you sell butterflies? How does this work?"

John: "Well, that is a fascinating question! That's actually one of my favorite questions! This is actually the general way I should butterflies, right in like this. I'll just pat them and put layers. Most of my butterflies go to zoos, botanical gardens around the country, so you don't really sell like ten at a time; you sell hundreds at a time, right?"

Destin: "Right!"

John: "I would say my advertised order is about a hundred butterflies a week. So, what we have here, this is a luna moth cocoon. Some people are confused about the difference in a cocoon here and a chrysalis or a pupa here. The difference really isn't that great. The inside of the cocoon is actually your pupa, so this... the cocoon itself is really just the covering that the pupa spins around itself.

If you look here at the spicebush swallowtail, it does not have a cocoon, so it's just the pupa, whereas the luna moth actually spins the cocoon around the pupa. This is the picture of the thing that we took in the rainforest, and that it's a beautiful example of a cocoon.

Destin: "Why is it... here I'm saying these cocoons are solid, but on that thing, you know, there's holes in the cocoon. Why would it do that?"

John: "Well, that's actually a very important defense mechanism. If you look at the cocoon on this luna moth, it's very tightly woven. So, if this was hanging on a tree, like the one you found down in the Amazon, if it was hanging like that, as massive amounts of rain fell, it would actually fill up with water and drown the pupa.

So those large holes actually allow the rain to just fall through instead of filling up the pupa."

Destin: "Oh, so a pupa actually has to have air?"

John: "Correct! Yeah, if people don't think about that, but pupae breathe just like any of the living, and they need air. So, if they're surrounded by water, if that cocoon was to fill up with water, it would actually drown the pupa."

Destin: "Oh wow, interesting! Well, thank you very much, John!"

John: "You're welcome to join."

Destin: "Last thing here is using the term chrysalis. That comes from the Greek word 'Christos,' which means gold. Some butterfly pupae have a gold shimmer to them, so that's why they're called a chrysalis. I thought that was pretty interesting!

Okay, my goal here was for you to learn, enjoy, and maybe see something beautiful you've never seen before. Now, I'll try to earn your like or subscription by providing a link in the video description to the high-resolution photos of the cocoon because it's pretty awesome.

Anyway, I'm Destin, you're getting smarter every day. Have a good one!"

I gotta ask, what are you doing, man?

Phil: "Thanks to movie face! Steps back in the mahogany jersey, need some glasses."

Destin: "Okay, how long have you lived out here?"

Phil: "Well, I am from here. I was born here, and I actually know this place very well. I have almost 10 years of guiding in the area, but I’ve never seen this before.

Destin: "Ever?"

Phil: "To be honest, never."

Destin: "Are you just not a very good guide?"

Phil: "I like to work more than the butterflies, but I always focus on details. New things."

Destin: "Yeah? Was I... I like these things, but I’ve never been this... honest with me."

Phil: "Awesome!"

Destin: "So you’ve gone through your whole life, and you’ve never seen this?"

Phil: "No, barely."

Destin: "And if you don't check out John’s stuff, may or may not leave a link, depending on what we decide. So anyway, have a good one!"