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White Catterpiler

Catterpiler

Description:

White Caterpillar eating leaves.Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture. Many moth species are better known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce.

Habitat:

Caterpillars have been called "eating machines", and eat leaves voraciously. Most species shed their skin four or five times as their bodies grow, and they eventually pupate into an adult form.[11] Caterpillars grow very quickly; for instance, a tobacco hornworm will increase its weight ten-thousandfold in less than twenty days. An adaptation that enables them to eat so much is a mechanism in a specialized midgut that quickly transports ions to the lumen (midgut cavity), to keep the potassium level higher in the midgut cavity than in the blood.

Notes:

We all love to gaze in wonder at the fragile beauty of the colorful butterfly or moth as it flutters gracefully through the air, but we should not forget that the young of these lovely creatures can be just as as glorious to behold, even if they do take the forms of rather creepy caterpillars. Many animals feed on caterpillars as they are rich in protein. As a result caterpillars have evolved various means of defense. The appearance of a caterpillar can often repel a predator: its markings and certain body parts can make it seem poisonous, or bigger in size and thus threatening, or non-edible. Some types of caterpillars are indeed poisonous.

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Thane, Maharashtra, India

Spotted on Sep 16, 2013
Submitted on Sep 16, 2013

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