How many paws does a caterpillar have and the secret of small legs

How long do peacock butterflies live?

True, in Friedrichsruhe you can also see butterflies typical of the middle zone. — The peacock eye is a unique European butterfly that lives for about 10 months and overwinters in basements or hollows of trees.

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How many limbs does a caterpillar have?

Most species of caterpillars have only three pairs of true legs, also called pectoral legs. All other limbs that can be seen on the larva are false. True and false caterpillar legs have certain differences, but are similar in structure. Like any other insect, their limbs consist of the following parts:

• basin;

  1-thoracic, 2-abdominal legs.

• trochanter;
• hip;
• shin;
• paw.

Thoracic legs of a caterpillar

The real legs of the caterpillar are called pectoral legs because of their location. Each thoracic segment of the larval body has one pair of true limbs. They are poorly developed and play a smaller role in movement compared to the abdominal ones.

There are claws at the ends of the thoracic limbs. The length and shape of these claws can vary significantly depending on the type of caterpillar.

Abdominal legs of a caterpillar

Caterpillars have legs.

Most species have 5 pairs of false limbs. They are located on segments 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 of the caterpillar's body. There are special hooks on the abdominal legs. They help the larva to hold firmly on various vertical and horizontal surfaces, and can be arranged in a circle or in rows.

At the edge of the abdominal leg there is a movable sole with claws. It can retract inward or bulge outward. The sole of the larva can be of two types:

• rounded. The hooks on such a sole are located in a circle, and the muscle that activates it is located in the center;
• reduced. The outer part of the sole of this type is almost undeveloped. The hooks are attached to its inner edges, and the muscles to the outer edges. The outer edge of the sole may also be significantly sclerotized.

Different caterpillar legs.

Habitat

The limited mobility of caterpillars does not facilitate their movement over long distances. In most cases, insects lead a terrestrial lifestyle, but there are also species that live in water.

All caterpillars are divided into two main groups: hidden and leading a free lifestyle. The former practically do not appear on the surface and live in the bark or in the ground away from sunlight. The latter are found on plants and are active during the daytime.

Habitat

In nature, many insects and animals feed on caterpillars. This is due to their high protein content. Therefore, the color of insects living on plants has a camouflage color, which allows them to blend in with the surface of the leaves. Poisonous butterfly larvae are characterized by a frightening bright body shade.

Among those who eat caterpillars:

• wasps;
• spiders;
• birds;
• reptiles.

To protect themselves from attacks from predators, some butterfly larvae are capable of producing a whistle and protruding from their body a fork-shaped gland of a red-orange hue, which secretes mucus with a pungent odor.

Between caterpillar and butterfly: pupa

After 4-5 molts, the caterpillar turns into a motionless pupa covered with chitin. Some pupae look like a butterfly mummy - folded legs, antennae pressed to the body. There are also those that do not resemble either a caterpillar or a butterfly: the body is covered with spines and outgrowths.

After the onset of the pupal stage, the insect undergoes continuous metamorphosis. During this time they do not move or eat. Ultimately, the chitinous cover of the pupa bursts and a butterfly emerges from it.

The pupa is the defenseless life period of an insect. If danger arises, she will not be able to hide. Therefore, before pupating, it is important for the caterpillars to take care of a safe place for transformation, and their legs help them a lot in this.

Methods of dealing with caterpillars

The appearance of caterpillars on plants does not bode well. These voracious insects can cause serious harm to a crop and even cause its death. In this case, at the first signs of their vital activity, it is necessary to take urgent measures to save the plants.

The following insecticides can be used to control caterpillars:

• Bitoxibacillin;
• Iskra M;
• Inta-vir;
• Senpai;
• Monsoon;
• Lepidocide.

To prevent damage, you can use decoctions based on tobacco leaves, chamomile, onion peels, tomato tops, and yarrow. The smell of these plants can scare off flying individuals, and they will not be able to lay eggs.

More about butterflies

This insect belongs to the species of arthropods; it is the most developed among invertebrates. There is hardly a person who would look indifferently at such a beautiful insect. She has a complex “life path”; she goes through a metamorphosis from a crawling caterpillar to a butterfly.

Back in the nineteenth century, scientists classified butterflies as various insects, but soon experts put everything in its place. Currently, more than 110,000 types of butterflies have not been studied.

Hives

Using hives as an example, this article will look at how many legs a butterfly has, and how they transform from a caterpillar.

Urticaria is most often found in the Russian Federation; it is a representative of the nymphalidae family.

Where can you find hives:

1. North America;
2. Asia;
3. Europe;
4. Japan;
5. China.

Urticaria gets its name from its love of food in the form of nettles. In the fall, the male wren dies, and the females remain to spend the winter in various sheds, basements, crevices and other hidden areas. In winter, urticaria wraps its wings around its body like a blanket. Sometimes it freezes completely, becoming like a piece of ice.

Wrens are a small species of light-winged beauties that overwinter as adults. The butterfly comes out of hibernation early, this happens in April.

Reproduction and nutrition

In spring, insects can be seen very clearly. And also in the spring, another early species of light-winged beauties - lemongrass, which belongs to the whiteweed family. It has bright yellow wings, which is why it is called that.

In spring there is no food for butterflies, so they feed on birch sap. In the summer, they eat juice from fruits and are also saturated with nectar from daisies or asters. Butterflies especially love hawthorn flowers.

Some types of insects eat raw clay; they need it to saturate them with essential microelements. Cutworms living in India and Malaysia are a predatory species . They feed on the blood of large animals.

Reproduction of urticaria:

1. in May, female wrens begin to look for the optimal place to lay eggs. As a rule, young nettle sprouts become such a place. If the butterfly cannot find them, then it lays eggs on hemp or hops;
2. Cabbage butterflies, for example, lay their own eggs on cabbage. Other types of butterflies lay their eggs on the ground;
3. The eggs of the urticaria are yellow-malachite in shape and resemble a barrel. The female lays them out in a heap on the underside of a nettle leaf;
4. one tab includes up to 250 eggs;
5. after laying, the female dies; after 14 days, small caterpillars are laid from the eggs.

Appearance of the urticaria caterpillar

After hatching, the caterpillars eat the eggshells. Then they braid the lower part of the leaf with cobwebs. Here the caterpillars hide in bad weather and rain. As soon as the sun appears , the caterpillar begins to eat the nettle leaves. As a rule, the larvae live together in a flock, they eat the nettle foliage on which they hatched.

The body of the urticaria is covered with spiny growths dotted with hairs. The caterpillars are black with yellow stripes. Throughout the life of the caterpillar, molting occurs several times. Thus, in a month they grow by almost 3 cm.

How do people protect pine trees from sawfly larvae?

You can find and destroy the false caterpillars of the red pine sawfly yourself, but, you see, such “manual control” is only suitable for small pine plantations. There are much more effective methods of control.

From the arsenal of biological measures, people use the enemies of the red pine sawfly that are already familiar to us: parasitoid insects, ants, small mammals [9], birds, etc. The most popular and effective among them is the nuclear polyhedrosis virus. The incubation period for this infection is 1–2 weeks. The virus is used in the early larval stages of development, and then about 90% of infected caterpillars die.

The heterogeneity of the habitat creates attractive conditions for natural enemies of pests, in our case, enemies of the red pine sawfly. Research shows that in such an environment there live more universal insectivorous animals, which regulate the number of plant pests [10]. Therefore, the creation of mixed, heterogeneous plantings helps to cope with the pine sawfly.

Do not forget about chemical methods of pest control. Currently, intestinal and contact poisons are used against the red pine sawfly - organophosphorus insecticides and pyrethroids. Pyrethroids disrupt the transmission of nerve impulses, which leads to paralysis and death of the insect. Insect growth regulators are also used. Urea derivatives inhibit chitin synthesis, which weakens the cuticle and prevents shedding. Azadirachtin is a natural insecticide obtained from the seeds of the woody plant neem (Azadirachta indica). It significantly reduces the feeding activity and body weight of false caterpillars, and when used in laboratory conditions, 100% lethality of N. sertifer larvae was achieved.

Types of caterpillars in which the number and arrangement of legs differs from the usual

The order of butterflies includes a huge number of species and their caterpillars differ significantly in appearance from each other. The number and arrangement of larval limbs differs especially among the following representatives of Lepidoptera.

Moths or surveyors

This species has only two pairs of false legs. They are located on the 6th and 10th segments of the larval body. This family got its name due to its special method of movement. Caterpillars “walk” in the same way that people measure length with a span using their hand.

Scoops or bats

False limbs, located on 3-4 body segments, can be very poorly developed.

Primary toothed moths

The caterpillars of these butterflies have 3 additional pairs of abdominal legs. In total, the larva has 11 pairs of limbs.

Megalopygids or flannel moths

The larvae of this species have 7 pairs of false legs, which are located on segments 2-7 and 10.

Miners

Small caterpillars of this family of butterflies usually live inside plants and have completely reduced both thoracic and abdominal legs.

The structure of the paws

How many legs butterflies have will be discussed below. The function of the legs in butterflies is running. Leg structure:

1. A leg segment called the coxa is fixedly attached to the butterfly's stomach. On the inside, several rows of muscles are attached to it; they help the legs straighten and bend. With the help of these muscles, a certain amplitude is given ;
2. Between the thigh and pelvis is another segment called the trochanter. This part belongs to the smallest lobe of the paw; with its help, mobility is ensured. The trochanter serves the same role as the hip joint in humans;
3. the longest leg, which bears the largest load, is called the knee leg. It contains part of the thigh. It is this part that determines what type of leg a limb can be classified as;
4. the lower leg is the same length as the thigh;
5. the ankle is the last leg segment of the urticaria. This part consists of 5 sections and has two nails at the end.

Butterfly legs help them hear

Urticaria has its own unique sign. This species uses 2 pairs of legs. 3 pairs of legs are pressed to the chest, they are shortened, and have small hairs on them. The shins have hairs that pick up vibrations. This helps to react to danger in time. It must be remembered that butterflies do not have hearing.

Light-winged beauties need legs to run. They help maintain clock connections with the structural features of the butterfly's body. Their legs are jointed and divided into 5 segments. At the same time, the paws are divided into 5 more members, each with a pair of “claws” at the ends.

Top 10: fantastic facts about caterpillars

Some people think caterpillars are extremely cute tiny creatures, while others are terrified of them. However, few people know how amazing and beautiful the world of caterpillars really is. These larvae undergo one of the most incredible transformation processes in the world of wildlife, communicate using the most unexpected body parts and are capable of emitting nicotine fumes!

In our list you will also find details about how caterpillars manage to subjugate ants, move in space, and see a larva that Donald Trump himself copies (Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States).

10. Portable body armor

More recently, in Peru, scientists discovered a new species of caterpillars, which they nicknamed hermit crabs for their habits, which are very reminiscent of the behavior of these arthropod creatures. No one had ever seen simple caterpillars behave exactly like this before. The new species has the habit of making itself a kind of protective suit, reminiscent of a portable cage or body armor. The fortification is woven directly from leaves, which this creature has learned to roll into a tiny roll. The caterpillar climbs into its cocoon of leaves and moves through the forest using its mouth and forelimbs, dragging its protective suit with it everywhere. While the larva obtains food for itself, its body remains under the protection of the leaf cocoon. The clever creature even provided a special recess in the center of its body armor, which allows it to quickly turn around inside this protective structure if the caterpillar suddenly needs to urgently get out of the twisted sheet through the “back door.”

9. Amazing camouflage

What types of camouflage do caterpillars resort to in order to protect their soft bodies from animals and insects that are not averse to feasting on these small creatures? Some caterpillars look like bird droppings, others have bright spots that look just like snake eyes, and there are also larvae that have learned to imitate the coloring of their poisonous relatives, which is why predators prefer to avoid them.

However, among all this soft-bodied brethren, there is one type of caterpillar that has absolutely unique abilities. The larva of the moth of the species Synchlora aerata camouflages itself in a rather inventive way - for camouflage it uses pieces of petals and other parts of the plants on which it feeds. This caterpillar decorates its back with leaves using sticky saliva, and when its colorful costume wears out, the animal tears off its old disguise and starts all over again.

8. Jumping caterpillar

In the forests of South Vietnam, caterpillars wrap themselves in leaves, like a sleeping bag, to begin the pupation process. And a species called Calindoea trifascialis has even learned to jump on the ground right in such a leafy cocoon, and he does this to hide from the sun's rays. To jump, this larva rests its abdominal pairs of legs on the bottom of its "sleeping bag" and pushes itself back, jumping in the opposite direction from its head.

The caterpillar can jump like this for almost 3 days until it finds a suitable place to begin its final transformation into a butterfly. When Professor Chris Darling began studying these little yellow larvae in 1998, he and his students noticed that the hopping creature was secreting a strange liquid. Not every sane person would think of licking such a caterpillar, but Chris did it! He did not feel any special taste, but soon his tongue became numb, which, according to the professor, was a consequence of the protective system of the larva, which used its chemical weapon against him.

In the laboratory, the scientist found out what kind of liquid he licked, and it turned out to be an unpleasant-smelling mixture of hydrocarbons and hydrocyanic acid produced by the body of the insect. The smell of this poisonous liquid fills the caterpillar's homemade cocoon and scares away ants and other voracious predators, which otherwise would not fail to sink their teeth into the protein-rich body of the larva.

7. Caterpillar with a hat

And this larva is the future moth of the Uraba lugens species, but before its legendary phase of transformation into a winged creature, it lives an equally amazing life. On her head it is easy to notice a process in the form of an eccentric horn. This strange part of the caterpillar’s ​​body is actually a “hat” of its old head capsules, which it throws off during each new molt. Each time the caterpillar sheds its old skin, it shifts its old head shell onto the very top of the new and now larger head, thus creating a new level of amazing crown over and over again.

During its life, the Uraba lugens larva molts about 13 times before final pupation, so sometimes a real tower of old body parts can be built on the head of such a caterpillar, which can be even larger than the larva itself. Why exactly she does this is still unknown, but for some time researchers assumed that the unique headdress of this creature was a kind of security system. Perhaps the horn distracts the predators, and they attack the empty head capsules, while the real caterpillar just manages to escape.

This theory sounded quite plausible for some time, until scientists conducted a series of experiments showing that both caterpillars without hats and larvae with horns, caught in a Petri dish along with the insects feeding on them, coped with the task of self-defense almost equally. They probably just like to put their own heads together...

6. Musical maestros in the world of insects

It turns out that there is a species of caterpillar that has developed a highly organized method of communication. For example, some larvae have learned to talk to each other using the back of their body. Scientists from Carlton University, Canada, have discovered that birch silkworm caterpillars have special anal processes that they use to scrape leaves to signal their relatives.

This is not the only method of communication that these larvae practice. Birch silkworms have also learned to shake their bodies and drum their mouthparts (mandibles) on the surface of leaves, allowing them to produce a range of different sounds and signals to other caterpillars in their community. As soon as one caterpillar begins to scratch and shake the leaves, its other fellows perceive this as a signal for a general gathering and crawl in the direction of the signal until they all gather together in one common group.

Researchers have not yet figured out what each type of signal means individually, and some scientists even believe that these caterpillars do not actually communicate with each other. But evolutionary biologist Jayne Yack has a different opinion: "I've studied insect sounds for over 30 years, and I've never seen an insect produce so many different calls." The caterpillars probably use all these sounds and vibrations to form social groups.

5. Poisonous nicotine breath

One of the favorite snacks of the tobacco hawk moth caterpillar is extremely toxic tobacco leaves. This plant contains a toxic substance (nicotine), which it uses as a defense against herbivores, otherwise the animals would have destroyed this species long ago. But the tobacco hawk moth not only happily feasts on these leaves, which are toxic and even lethal for some animals, but has also learned to use tobacco as a personal weapon against other predators. The caterpillar redirects nicotine from its digestive system into the hemolymph (the equivalent of the bloodstream in the insect world). The hawkmoth larva then opens small pores in its skin (spiracles) and releases toxic fumes. Biologists call this process protective halitosis (the medical term for halitosis). When poisonous fumes are directed at predators such as wolf spiders, they save the caterpillar from being attacked and becoming someone's tasty morsel.

4. Hawaiian carnivorous caterpillars

On the Hawaiian Islands live carnivorous caterpillars that lie in their shelters all day long and wait for an unsuspecting victim to treat themselves to its meat. For example, caterpillars of the species Hyposmocoma molluscivora will not eat plant foods, even when dying of hunger. This small larva grows to only 8 millimeters in length, but despite its tiny size, it manages to eat whole snakes alive, attacking them from its secluded ambush. To prevent the snake from escaping its fate, Hyposmocoma molluscivora chains its victim to the leaves with a silk thread, just like spiders spin a real cocoon of cobwebs around small insects. The caterpillar then climbs into the silk trap containing the captive snake and slowly eats the victim directly alive, leaving only the empty shell of the snake.

Hyposmocoma molluscivora is the only species of caterpillar that feeds on snakes, but its uniqueness does not end there. It turns out that this larva is so far the only known full-fledged amphibian of its kind. It is able to survive both on land and underwater, although researchers still do not understand how exactly it manages to breathe in an aquatic environment. Daniel Rubinoff, a professor at the University of Hawaii, believes that this caterpillar has a special respiratory organ that scientists have not yet noticed, or that it breathes through skin pores adapted to process oxygen underwater.

Another species of carnivorous caterpillar lives in Hawaii, and these are the larvae of flower moths (Eupithecia), which look just like a small clawed hand waiting for its chance to pounce on an unsuspecting prey. These masters of camouflage stretch their bodies along the leaves, pretending to be harmless stems, and freeze until the unfortunate victim approaches them. But when its turn comes, in the blink of an eye the flower moth slams its body shut and grabs the surprised prey with its clawed legs.

These are just two examples of as many as 18 species of carnivorous caterpillars found in the Hawaiian Islands. The wildlife in this region is truly amazing!

3. Caterpillar overlords and slave owners

The caterpillar of the Japanese blueberry butterfly of the species Arhopala amantes has an incredible and even almost sinister security system against spiders, wasps and other predatory insects from its range. These larvae have learned to take innocent ants into virtual slavery, forcing them to become their warlike bodyguards. They do this with the help of a chemical that the caterpillars secrete in the form of sugar droplets through their skin onto the surface of the grass. The ants are attracted by the sweet smell of this liquid, and once they taste it, they never return to their native anthill, forget about food and do not dare leave their new owner, the sinister caterpillar-lord Arhopala amantes.

The larva of this butterfly has even learned to give orders to attack - when it unfolds its small antennae, its subordinate ants become especially aggressive and attack any insect approaching them. Professor at Kobe University (Japan), Masuru Hojo, believes that glandular cells in the area of ​​the caterpillar's antennae secrete a special chemical, which is perceived by enslaved ants as a signal to attack strangers. “It is possible that both the visual and chemical cues stimulate ant aggression,” Hojo suggests. Ants that have not tasted the caterpillar's sweet secretions do not react in any way to the waving of its antennae. The Japanese professor is inclined to believe that the power of the larvae of the Arhopala amantes species depends entirely on their secret chemical weapon, with which they manipulate the ants that have tried their “potion.”

2. Floating entrails and soft-bodied robots

You've probably noticed how unusually the caterpillars move. In motion they resemble tiny waves. However, what happens inside them during this bizarre crawling deserves a separate discussion. Did you know, for example, that the guts of a larva are one step ahead of the rest of its body? Biologists at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences came to this conclusion when they x-rayed tobacco hawk moth caterpillars to better understand how they move.

Taking an X-ray of a crawling caterpillar is a rather difficult task, if only because these creatures do not have bones. That's why biologist Michael Simon and his team placed test specimens on a tiny homemade caterpillar treadmill and illuminated their insides with a special particle accelerator from the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. Researchers have discovered that the caterpillar's internal organs move independently of its outer shell and even outpace its limbs. “The movement of internal tissues caused by general locomotion (the scientific term for moving from place to place) is observed in many organisms, but caterpillars appear to move using a two-part system, including an outer shell and enclosed innards. This mechanism explains the amazing freedom of movement of these soft-bodied sliders,” says Michael Simon, the first author of the study on this topic, who published his work in the British scientific journal Current Biology. This unique form of crawler locomotion is called “visceral locomotive pistoning”.

You might wonder why it was so important for scientists to know what happens to the insides of butterfly larvae as they move from place to place. It turns out that research into the crawling mechanism of caterpillars can be very useful for the development of soft-body robots, which may subsequently become very popular in the transport industry. In July 2010, Professor Simon explained to LiveScience that "one of the main advantages of a soft-shell robot is its ability to move delicate loads such as electronics, fragile instruments and chemicals." A rigid-frame robot has a hard shell, while a soft-body vehicle can be deformed in all directions without damaging its contents.

Citing his team's research into the amazing propulsion system of caterpillars, Michael Simon reminded us all that "the world is still full of opportunities for new discoveries in even the simplest and most mundane things and places."

1. Caterpillar soup and imaginal discs

We all know that caterpillars spin cocoons to protect their chrysalis from the outside world while it goes through the wonderful process of becoming a butterfly or moth. A pupa is essentially a hardened shell, inside which the caterpillar prepares for the most important changes in its life. Initially, this shell grows just under the top layer of the larva's skin. When this outer skin falls off, the chrysalis (pupa) emerges. At first, this chrysalis is quite soft to the touch, but then it hardens to protect the larva while it is in the process of pupation. And from this moment the most interesting and unusual thing begins: once in a fairly hard protective cocoon, the caterpillar secretes special digestive enzymes that destroy its body into a real soup. The larva literally dissolves and digests itself, but some of its extremely important tissues remain intact. These are called imaginal discs.

What is this all about, you ask? To answer this question we will have to go back to the very beginning - to the time when the caterpillar was still a small egg. As the unhatched larva develops, it grows special clusters of cells inside its body (the same imaginal discs). Each disc represents a different part of the body that it will eventually become when the caterpillar becomes a butterfly or moth. Each wing, eye, antenna and leg has its own separate imaginal disc.

Once the pupated caterpillar has digested and turned most of its body into a liquid soup of organs, leaving only its imaginal discs floating in the mixture, these clusters of cells use the liquid environment around them as fuel to quickly form the organs of the future adult butterfly or moth. The entire process of transformation from the egg stage, larvae and until the emergence of the adult is called holometaboly.

It would seem, after everything described, what even more extraordinary could happen in the lives of these creatures? However, researchers have recently discovered that at least some species of moth retain memories of laboratory experiments in which they took part as caterpillars.

So evolutionary ecologist Martha Weiss placed a tobacco hawk moth larva in a small Y-shaped tube. One of the sections of this tube led towards the area that smelled of ethyl acetate (a pungent odor), and the other - to clean air. Caterpillars that chose a path that smelled of ethyl acetate were given an electric shock, after which 78% of them preferred to avoid the area with the smell of this chemical in the future. A month later, when the caterpillars turned into adult moths, they were faced with exactly the same choice. 77% of moles reliably avoided tubes that smelled of ethyl acetate. According to Martha Weiss, this proves that during the most significant restructuring of the body, which is the transition from the pupa to the stage of an adult insect, these animals somehow retain the areas of the brain responsible for the memories of the caterpillar.

Bonus! Every caterpillar's worst nightmare

Wasps of the genus Glyptapanteles are every caterpillar's worst nightmare! This is the name given to parasitic wasps from Brazil, which are responsible for the most terrible torment of the larvae of future butterflies. The female of this wasp species lays her eggs, which are shaped like small bullets or stingers, into the body of the caterpillar. Its victims are usually the caterpillars of Thyrinteina leucocerae, the most harmless herbivorous creatures. The wasp “infects” the caterpillar with dozens of tiny eggs, from which small larvae subsequently emerge. These creatures will feed on the insides of an unfortunate victim as long as there are enough nutrients in it. After the Glyptapanteles larvae appear in it, the carrier caterpillar still lives for some time, eats, and molts 3-4 times, but in the end the parasites slowly and surely eat it out from the inside.

When the wasp larvae have eaten almost all the insides of the caterpillar, they chew their way out and spin themselves into small cocoons in which they will transform into an adult wasp. You probably think that by this time the caterpillar usually dies? However, contrary to all logic, the barely alive victim protects the little parasites with all her strength and does not leave their cocoons until the very end. The caterpillar no longer eats and does not crawl anywhere, it simply guards the small wasp pupae, sometimes curling up around them if it seems to it that they need its protection. If any foreign insect appears nearby, the half-dead caterpillar Thyrinteina leucocerae begins to twitch and drive the strangers away from the Glyptapanteles cocoons. When the wasp pupae finally develop into adults, the caterpillar dies with a clear conscience.

Scientists are not yet able to explain the reason for such significant changes in the behavior of the caterpillar after the small parasites leave its corroded body. Although they discovered that during this entire process, a pair of wasp larvae always remained inside the victim, while the rest of their relatives had already climbed out and pupated. This leads researchers to believe that these larvae somehow control the behavior of the caterpillar, sacrificing themselves for the sake of a great goal (protecting the wasps that got out). Although this theory needs more thorough investigation.

Bonus-2! Caterpillar-Trump

This funny little ball of yellow hair is a caterpillar of a butterfly of the megalopygid family. Recently, playful researchers who discovered this caterpillar in the Amazon forests of Peru began to call the shaggy creature “Trumpapillar” for its striking resemblance to the hairstyle of American President Donald Trump. These caterpillars actually come in quite a variety of colors, including white, pink, and red.

The hairs covering the body of the larva are very similar in properties to the fur of a tarantula. In addition, they are covered in tiny poisonous spines, contact with which causes a painful rash. This self-defense mechanism turned out to be so effective that it can even serve as a clear example of Batesian mimicry in the case of the chicks of the Amazonian bird, the gray aulia. Its young look almost identical to this toxic caterpillar, which serves them well when it comes to camouflage from the carnivorous inhabitants of the Amazon.

When the chicks of the aulia feel danger, they even begin to move like megalopygid larvae, so that the predator (local snakes and monkeys) is afraid of an unwanted collision with the poisonous trampapillar larva.

Life cycle

In their development, all representatives of the order Lepidoptera go through 4 stages: egg, caterpillar, pupa, butterfly. After mating, female insects lay eggs, which can develop from several days to months. The duration of the period depends on temperature conditions. The caterpillar easily gnaws through the shell of the egg. Under unfavorable weather conditions, the larva overwinters in the egg and only when spring comes does it emerge. Hungry caterpillars often eat the remains of their “shelter.”

Caterpillars

How long do caterpillars live is a question that can be found quite often on the Internet. The duration of this phase of insect development depends on the species and can last several days or years. This is due to the fact that northern butterflies hibernate without completing their development cycle.

Interesting!

The moth, which lives in harsh northern regions, can remain in the caterpillar stage for about 14 years.

The caterpillar has several phases of development. They are characterized not only by changes in the color and size of the insect, but also by certain structural features. During its life, an insect undergoes a certain number of moults, which depend on its membership in a particular biological species. Typically, the larva molts 4 times; for representatives of certain species, this number can vary from 5 to 7. Under unfavorable external conditions, the growth period of the insect is prolonged, and the number of molts increases.

On a note!

The clothes caterpillar can molt 4 or 40 times.

Before this process begins, they stop feeding, become motionless and hide in secluded places. Their skin stretches and their head seems to shrink in size. Having shed the old shell, the caterpillar can eat it. Having gone through all stages of molting, insects move on to a new life stage.

Pupation of the caterpillar can occur in inaccessible places or directly on the plant on which the larva fed. Under certain conditions, insects travel considerable distances in search of protected places. Later, a butterfly emerges from the pupa.

Poisonous caterpillars

Poisonous caterpillars can be distinguished by the bright color of their body. This is a kind of warning signal.

These include the following types:

1. Coquette caterpillar. Distributed in Mexico. In appearance it resembles a small hamster. The body length of the larva reaches 2-3 cm. The body is densely covered with brown hairs. Upon contact, a person experiences chest pain and shortness of breath.
2. Saddle caterpillar. The back of this larva is poisonous green in color, with a large brown spot in the center. There are thick horns on the head and tail, and on the body there are stiff hairs, the ends of which contain poison.
3. Lazy clown. Lives in Uruguay, Mozambique. The size of the caterpillar is 3-4 cm. The main color is black and white with tufts of stiff hairs of a milky green hue. The Lazy Clown's venom affects the nervous system and causes internal bleeding.
4. Burning rose. The main color of the caterpillar is yellow, with blue and red stripes clearly visible on it. The thick horns of the insect contain spines with poison. Upon contact, they break, which causes a rash on the human skin.

Burning Rose