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Limacodidae, Lepidoptera
For me, photographing insects in this part of the world is full of "WHAT THE **** !!" moments. Trust me when I tell you I said it out loud several times over when I found this creation. These caterpillars are custom built with every conceivable self-protection device imaginable. Bright, garish colors which are like danger signs in nature saying "I taste awful" or "I am loaded with poison; multiple stinging barbs which inflict painful and persistent burning rashes (on humans anyway); false eyes pointing in every direction to say " I see you, you can't surprise me"; a head end that looks the same as the rear end so there can be no potential surprise attack from behind; and specific to the Limacodid caterpillars (who actually have no true legs, hence the slug in their name), a sticky adhesive underside that makes them very difficult to prise off their food plant. With that in mind, stinging nettle caterpillars are often not hard to find. They don't conceal themselves day or night and will often be in the most conspicuous of locations. Basically, they have little to fear.
19 Comments
Thanks for sharing this amazing caterpillar and the description! I have been stung by the sharp barbs of a different caterpillar and they can be really painful :-)
Me "Wow" too! Very nice.
Gorgeous!
Amazing!!!!
beautiful colors!
Your caterpillar definitely has the WOW factor. Good spotting!
wonderful color and pattern
wow!!! what a beautiful caterpillar!!
Wow is right!
Wow! Thaís is fascinating!!!!
amazing. really beautiful.
Wow indeed! Very cool caterpillar.
Wow!!! Amazing!
Fantastic spotting, congrats!!
I could say wonderful, fantastic, amazing, incredible, but none of those words will do. How about WOW! I love it!
Spectacular caterpillar!
@bayucca
Certainly similar.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/itchydogima...
That is ridiculously cool looking. Definitely some pretty strong 'I warn you, I wouldn't eat me if I were you' messaging going on.
Reminds me of Setora nitens, which is common and looks usually more yellowish/greenish.