caterpillar

no problem at all.
well caterpillar skin is made up of chitin and its in a form of single piece. For growth caterpillars shed their skin.
dont know whether birds eat them or not.

Thanx a tonn Uday, this is the one. ditto! :-)
I'll post a few photos of the shed skin. the skin part is like one tenth of the length and its a dead thing left by the caterpillar on the leaf. Wanted to know more about this, why do they do it and how it helps them. Also, who are its predators? do sparrows eat them? coz they disappear one by one without getting converted into moths! ;-(
Thanx for the info anyways.

well it almost looks like Hardwood Tussock Moth (Dasychira dorsipennata)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showima...

welcome!
yeh they shed their skin
I've a tussock moth caterpillar in my collection
before shedding skin http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/132...
after shedding skin http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/134...

Thanx Uday.
I've also noticed that these caterpillars leave behind a small part of them every once in a while. Do they shed their skin this way? any idea?

some kind of tussock moth caterpillar