metamorphosis, in biology, striking change of form or structure in an individual after hatching or birth. Hormones called molting and juvenile hormones, which are not species specific, apparently regulate the changes. These physical changes as well as those involving growth and differentiation are accompanied by alterations of the organism’s physiology, biochemistry, and behaviour.
The immature forms, or larvae, are adapted to environments and modes of life that differ from those of the adult forms. These differences may be of significance in assuring that larvae and adults of the same species do not engage in direct competition for food or living space. Examples of metamorphosis include the tadpole, an aquatic larval stage that transforms into the land-dwelling frog (class Amphibia). Starfishes and other echinoderms undergo a metamorphosis that includes a change from the bilateral symmetry of the larva to the radial symmetry of the adult. Metamorphic patterns are well-known in crabs, lobsters, and other crustaceans and also in snails, clams, and other mollusks. The larval form of the urochordate (e.g., the tunicate, or sea squirt) is tadpole-like and free swimming; the adult is sessile and somewhat degenerate.
Among the most dramatic and thoroughly studied examples of metamorphosis are the insects. Because development is not the same in all insects, it is convenient to group them into major categories according to the pattern of structural changes: ametabolous, hemimetabolous, and holometabolous. In ametabolous development there is simply a gradual increase in the size of young until adult dimensions are attained. This kind of development occurs in the silverfish, springtail, and other primitive insects. In more advanced insects (e.g., grasshoppers, termites, true bugs) a phenomenon known as gradual, or hemimetabolous, metamorphosis occurs. The hemimetabolous life cycle consists of egg, nymph, and adult. The nymph, or immature insect, resembles the adult in form and eating habits, differing in size, body proportions, and colour pattern. Rudimentary wings are visible and develop externally. Development is gradual through a series of molts (periodic shedding of the outer skeleton), the adult emerging from the final molt.
Complete, or holometabolous, metamorphosis is characteristic of beetles, butterflies and moths, flies, and wasps. Their life cycle includes four stages: egg, larva (q.v.), pupa (q.v.), and adult. The larva differs greatly from the adult. It is wingless, and its form and habits are suited for growth and development rather than reproduction. The change to the adult occurs during the inactive, nonfeeding pupal stage. At this time the larva undergoes a transformation in which the wings appear externally, larval organs and tissues are broken down, and adult structures are developed. Hypermetamorphosis, a form of complete metamorphosis, occurs in some beetles, flies, and other insects and is characterized by a series of larval stages.