The Metallic Mechanitis Butterfly Chrysalis

Deep in the rainforests of South America resides a caterpillar with an escape strategy so peculiar it appears improbable. As a defense mechanism, this organism stays in a shiny and chrome surface to fool potential predators.

The Orange-spotted Tiger Clearwing (Mechanitis polymnia) is incubating inside this mirrored palace, which might appear to make it vulnerable to predation, However, the opposite is true.


They are actually very hard to see in nature, given the way all the colours are reflected. When light reflects off the chrome-like pupae, other insects might mistake them for drops of water or just beams of light.

The tactic works a charm, and is actually shared by species in several other groups, like milkweed butterflies (genus Danaidae) and those in the genus Tithorea.

Contrary to some comments online, these structures don’t contain metal particles; they are actually made of chitin, the same substance which is what gi