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
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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
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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! :)
