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Project Noah Nature School
Papilio polytes
This caterpillar was nibbling on a lemon leaf. These caterpillars have a interesting defense mechanism - First they have fake eyes on either side of their head to make them look like a snake, then they have an organ in their head called the osmeterium. When threatened, the caterpillars display the osmeterium, which resemble two brightly colored ‘horns’ sticking up from the caterpillar’s head. The osmeterium can emit foul-smelling terpenes. The smell, the horns and the caterpillar’s thrashing movements, helps to ward off predators.
Note: This spotting was by mistake added to mushroom mapping mission. Edit tool does not allow this spotting to be removed from the mushroom mapping mission.
Spotted on Sep 29, 2014
Submitted on Sep 29, 2014
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