Hypermetamorphosis is a kind of complete insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

 metamorphosis in which the different larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

l instar

Instar

An instar is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each molt , until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or assume a new form. Differences between instars can often be seen in altered body proportions, colors, patterns, or...

s represent two or more different forms of larva. As the larva molts

Ecdysis

Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticula in many invertebrates. This process of moulting is the defining feature of the clade Ecdysozoa, comprising the arthropods, nematodes, velvet worms, horsehair worms, rotifers, tardigrades and Cephalorhyncha...

 its morphology can change from that of a campodeiform (elongated, flattened, and active) to scarabaeiform (grublike) or to vermiform (maggotlike). Some of these instars are very active, while instars closer to final pupation become less active, in some cases.

It is exhibited by certain parasitoid

Parasitoid

A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host organism in a relationship that is in essence parasitic; unlike a true parasite, however, it ultimately sterilises or kills, and sometimes consumes, the host...

 insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s, notably the beetle

Beetle

Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

 families Meloidae and Ripiphoridae

Ripiphoridae

The family Ripiphoridae is a cosmopolitan group of beetles commonly known as wedge-shaped beetles containing some 450 species...

, the fly

Fly

True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...

 family Acroceridae

Acroceridae

Acroceridae is a small family of odd looking flies most closely related to Nemestrinidae. There are about 520 species in 50 genera. They are characterized by a humpbacked appearance and a small head, sometimes with a long proboscis for nectar. As such, acrocerids are commonly known as small-headed...

, the parasitic wasp

Parasitic wasp

The term parasitoid wasp refers to a large evolutionary grade of hymenopteran superfamilies, mainly in the Apocrita. They are primarily parasitoids of other animals, mostly other arthropods...

 family Eucharitidae

Eucharitidae

Eucharitidae is a family of parasitic wasps known as Eucharitid wasps. Eucharitid wasps are members of the superfamily Chalcidoidea and consist of three subfamilies: Oraseminae, Eucharitinae, and Gollumiellinae. There are 53 genus and 473 species of Eucharitidae; most of which are members of the...

, and the order Strepsiptera

Strepsiptera

The Strepsiptera are an order of insects with ten families making up about 600 species...

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Use in psychology

Hypermetamorphosis can also refer to a mammalian/primate psychological condition where there is excessive and indiscriminate reaction to visual stimulus. It is a symptom of Kluver-Bucy syndrome

Klüver-Bucy syndrome

Klüver-Bucy syndrome is a behavioral disorder that occurs when both the right and left medial temporal lobes of the brain malfunction. The amygdala has been a particularly implicated brain region in the pathogenesis of this syndrome. The syndrome is named for Heinrich Klüver and Paul...

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