All right, I've had enough of gross stuff haha. To lighten up the mood, here are 5 of the prettiest caterpillars I've found online, each of them stunningly unique!
Weird & Wilder is a mini series dedicated to exploring the strangest facts about moths and butterflies. Who would ever again think that moths are boring? Check out the entire series here!
Happy Starry Fluttering~! ♥
Cheers,
Night
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A parasitized Staff Sergeant Butterfly Caterpillar
Source: Pinterest
Photographer: itchydogimages
It is not always fluttery and smooth sailing for caterpillars. Sadly, some don't make it because they fall prey to parasites. Certain disgusting and gross footages are up ahead, so viewer discretion is advised! Eh whoops... too late maybe. xD
Recently on National Geographic, I saw a video about wasp larvae eating their way out of a poor caterpillar:
It is unimaginable that dozens of wasp larvae can inhabit a single caterpillar! Urgh!!!
A parasitic wasp will inject her eggs into a caterpillar. For the next week or so, the caterpillar munches away on leaves while the larvae feed on the insides of the caterpillar. When the larvae are fully matured, they bite their way through the caterpillar's skin to break out of its body.
You can also watch a mini documentary on parasitic wasps larvae in a caterpillar here. It has amazingly gross footage of how it would look like from within the infested caterpillar!
Apparently in some areas, it is more common to come across a parasitized caterpillar than to find an unparasitized one. It must be quite heartbreaking for butterfly lovers to see that the caterpillars are so defenseless against these annoying parasites!
If you haven't flipped the table in anger yet, this video by Carl Stenoien might make you sit on the edge as you watch a Monarch caterpillar unsuccessfully fend of parasitic wasps while it transforms into a chrysalis. Prepare your tissues because 'Spoiler Alert', the chrysalis is not going to make it. :'(
2 weeks later, Carl captured another video documenting a hundred wasps or so emerging from the chrysalis.
I guess these wasps exist to keep a balance in the ecosystem, but still... I can't help but root for these caterpillars and I find myself wishing to shoo the parasites away!
Weird & Wilder is a mini series dedicated to exploring the strangest facts about moths and butterflies. Who would ever again think that moths are boring? Check out the entire series here!
Happy Starry Fluttering~! ♥ Or maybe not this time...
Cheers,
Night
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What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word 'caterpillar'? Well... most of us will think of it as something that is small and resembles a worm, and it is slimy, wiggly, or even hairy, right?
Or maybe we visualise the cute and lovely caterpillars we have in Starlight & Flutter...
The following photographs that I am about to share with you may just destroy your mental image of a caterpillar!
Here are the 5 craziest looking caterpillars based on their aesthetics. You can click on the image to enlarge it for a closer look... if you dare lols. xD
The last caterpillar looks a baby popped right out of Alien vs. Predators! Urghhh~
Weird & Wilder is a mini series dedicated to exploring the strangest facts about moths and butterflies. Who would ever again think that moths are boring? Check out the entire series here!
Happy Starry Fluttering~! ♥
Cheers,
Night
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In the previous installation of the mini series Weird & Wilder, we saw the strange behavior of the Pine Pocessionary Caterpillars moving in a single line, back to back of each other.
In this post, I would like to share another oddly weird caterpillar phenomenon which I came across online. Destin, who is a content creator for his YouTube channel SmarterEveryDay, posted a video about caterpillars moving in a lump swarm. He explains that it may be actually more efficient for these caterpillars to move around in a group, rather than crawling around alone. Check out his video here:
(All right, after some digging around, I found out that these creatures are apparently called Perreyia flavipes. They resemble caterpillars but are actually larvae. The adult insect look like wasps and they do not grow into moths or butterflies. However, I am posting this up in case there are actually some species of caterpillars that exhibit similar behavior. Who knows what Mother Nature has in store for us? xD)
It took me a couple of seconds staring at Destin's lego demonstration before it actually clicked in my head that these larvae are actually stepping on each other to move ahead faster than they would have if they moved alone!
Imagine that you are standing on a travelator. The moving belt underneath your feet helps to transport you from one point to another. However, if you start to walk on the travelator, your speed doubles up and you end up moving faster.
This is exactly the same case for these larvae! Interestingly, the larvae climb on top of each other to take advantage of the movement of the bottom most larvae, which functions just like the travelator. When the top most larva reaches the front of the horde, it goes back onto the ground and lets other larvae crawl over him. When it finds itself at the end of the crowd, it then tries to climb back up onto others in front of it.
However, unlike the Pine Pocessionary Caterpillars, they aren't quite organised and do not move in a straight line. Hence, this is probably why you get a lump or creepy crawly mess trying to move in the same direction.
If you are the type of person who likes geeky math, you can check out Aatish Bhatia's post on Empirical Zeal where he analyzed Destin's video and calculated how much faster each layer of 'caterpillars' were moving. He calls it a "rolling swarm", and even built a game for it!
Or if you simply want to see more of these crazy stuff, here are some other footage of creatures that agglomerate on the ground:
Weird & Wilder is a mini series dedicated to exploring the strangest facts about moths and butterflies. Who would ever again think that moths are boring? Check out the entire series here!
Happy Starry Fluttering~! ♥
Cheers,
Night
Follow my Facebook page to receive updates for future blog content! :)
A while back I shared an interesting video in Flutter DYNASTY, and we made a joke that these caterpillars can maybe merge better than some drivers. xD
These are Pine Processionary caterpillars, and they seem to exhibit this strange behavior of forming a long trail when migrating to other areas to search for food.
Rich Laburn writes in a blog post that they seem to 'mimic the shape of a snake and hence deter predators from picking them off individually'.
These caterpillars produce and leave behind a trail of silk which allows latecomers to find and join the line. Trail marking also allows them to aggregate at feeding sites and later find their way back home.
If you do see these furry creatures marching across your lawn, it is best not to touch them! Do be aware that as an anti-predator defense, these caterpillars are highly irritating to the skin and can produce severe allergic reactions in adults and children. They can be fatal to pets too.
I guess the long time joke of the chicken crossing the road is too old school now! We should be asking why did the caterpillars cross the road instead lols! xD
Weird & Wilder is a mini series dedicated to exploring the strangest facts about moths and butterflies. Who would ever again think that moths are boring? Check out the entire series here!
Happy Starry Fluttering~! ♥
Cheers,
Night
Follow my Facebook page to receive updates for future blog content! :)
Last week in Flutter DYNASTY, I shared a video by Tasha Stanley who had found a moth chilling out in her fish tank, completely submerged underwater! You can check out the video here:
Seems like the moth is perfectly fine in the fish tank! It could move around, breathe, and when Tasha took it out of the water it didn't seem to have sustained any injuries.
Some moths are quite hairy and these hairs help to repel water and trap air bubbles around them, perhaps this is the reason why Tasha's moth could go for a swim in the tank.
I also googled around for some explanations and found this interesting video about Aquatic Moths and how they actually spend over half their life cycle underwater!
The video explains that these moths have waterproof hairs that are called Hydrofuge Hairs, and these hairs on their skin creates an air bubble around them which is called a Plastron. Oxygen from the water diffuses into the Plastron which then allows the moths to breathe.
A study by Daniel Rubinoff and Patrick Schmitz on the Hawaiian Hyposmocoma moth found that the larve submerged underwater rely on direct diffusion of oxygen from the water into their hydrophilic skin along their abdomens. Therefore they can only survive in "well-oxygenated streams, and quickly die in stagnant water."
Who knows, next time our moths in Starlight might run over to take a dip in Splash too! xD
Weird & Wilder is a mini series dedicated to exploring the strangest facts about moths and butterflies. Who would ever again think that moths are boring? Check out the entire series here!
Happy Starry Fluttering~! ♥
Cheers,
Night
Follow my Facebook page to receive updates for future blog content! :)
If you ever get the chance to fly to Singapore, do not be in a hurry to rush to the immigration counters. Stay in the transit area instead, because there is a mini butterfly sanctuary right next to you in the airport!
Yep you heard me right! The Butterfly Garden is located at Changi Airport Terminal 3 (Transit), where it houses some 47 species of butterflies found during different periods of the year.
During my recent trip to Bangkok, I'm glad I ran over to visit this garden despite my tight schedule. I only had about 5 minutes to grab whatever footage I could, so pardon the quality and tardiness of the video haha. >_<
When I first walked into the garden, the first thing I noticed was the change in temperature. There is no air-con in the sanctuary (probably to let the flutters stay warm and fuzzy), but the waterfall and wooden floor boards help to keep the place cool.
As mentioned in the video, one of the best highlights of this garden is that there are several feeding corners that allows you to see the butterflies up close. These feeding corners provide an alternate source of nutrition for the adult butterflies. Filled with fresh fruits and flowers, they supplement the natural nectar produced by flowering plants. You can observe the beautiful flutters while the moths and butterflies drink away, and if you seem friendly enough, one of them may even decide to fly and land on you! xD
Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas)
Autumn Leaf (Doleschalia bisaltide)
Plain Blue Crow (Euploea modesta)
There is also a chamber where it houses all the pupa and chrysalis. It is funny how they line them up in rows, reminds me of how we try to breed an 'army' of butterflies in Flutter! "Egg-Layers! Fall in!" :P
A Great Mormon (Papilio mernon) drying its wings
You can learn more about the butterflies at the Education Corners all around the garden. There are also breeding corners where specially selected host plants are available for butterflies to lay their eggs on. The next time you visit this garden, see if you can spot an egg or a caterpillar munching away in the leaves!
How to get there?
The Butterfly Garden is located inside the Transit area of Changi Airport Terminal 3, so you need to be actually flying to or from Singapore to be able to access this area. This means you need a plane ticket and a boarding pass.
If you are flying to Singapore:
Stay in the transit area! Do not clear immigration yet because once you do, you will have to leave the transit area and proceed to pick up your luggages.
If you are flying from Singapore:
Try to check in early so you have ample time to explore Changi Airport before your flight. (Changi Airport is not the world's best airport for nothing! Hee hee... xD)
The Butterfly Garden is beside the viewing gallery (where you can do plane spotting through their glass walls, and there are tons of comfy sofas and several massage chairs so you can't miss it).
If you are at a different terminal, you can board a Sky Train to terminal hop within the transit area in Changi Airport.
Allright, that's all for now~! If you have any questions feel free to ask me, I'll try to help in any way I can. Hope you enjoyed this post, and Bon Voyage~! xD
Happy Starry Fluttering~! ♥
Cheers,
Night
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Ever wondered where the decorations and creatures in Starlight are inspired from? Interested to see how they look like in real life?
A couple of awesome peeps from Flutter DYNASTY are working to put together an album of all the flowers and animals seen in Starlight. This a pretty cool project initiated by Katie Rassbach! They even have another compilation for Flutter too! xD
Come join the group to check them out! You only need a Facebook account to join and see the album here.
Happy Fun~! ♥
Cheers,
Night
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I knew this furry little fellow secretly has his moves when I caught him moonwalking to a pollen flower by accident!
Just for fun, I let him loose under the moonlight to show off his cuteness. Watch his legs jiggle as he tap danced through the canopy and beyond! Everyday I'm Shufflin~! xD
Shortly later, I learnt that honey bees actually do the Waggle Dance to communicate with their friends in the colony! It is interesting to know that through dance steps, they can tell their mates where to find new food.
Shake it baby~! xD ♥
Cheers,
Night
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