A few butterflies and many moth species spin a silk case or cocoon prior to pupating, while others do not, instead going underground. A butterfly pupa, called a chrysalis, has a hard skin, usually with no cocoon.
4. tension - (physics) a stress that produces an elongation of an elastic physical body; the direction of maximum tension moves asymptotically toward the direction of the shear. natural philosophy, physics-the science of matter and energy and their interactions; his favorite subject was physics.
Medical Definition of surface tension. : the attractive force exerted upon the surface molecules of a liquid by the molecules beneath that tends to draw the surface molecules into the bulk of the liquid and makes the liquid assume the shape having the least surface area.