When a caterpillar has eaten its last leaf, he puts a lot of work into prepping for That Big Change. They do an extensive walk-about first, but they're on a timer. If they haven't found the exact right spot they have to lay down a silk mat where ever they find themselves, build a silk button (some will lay down two buttons) then after about a day's worth of loosening that outside skin, pull themselves out of their prolegs (which then lose their grip on the silk) and they drop down into a J form.

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(Alt text = a large Monarch caterpillar hangs by just his two hind pro-legs grasping a silk button built on the underside of a Butterflyweed leaf)