caterpillars
Collectively, they’re the biggest herbivores on the planet. Go out and try and find one, I dare you. I just spent a week trying to find caterpillars in the company of people who are very good at it - Lee Dyer, Grant Gentry and Tara Massad. A sobering experience. The trick is to look for leaf damage, which is relatively easy to find. But the caterpillars have had eons to evolve camouflage and other strategies that make quite challenging to locate - and all the more satisfying when you do.
Upcoming Pulse programs reveal a few of the secrets of finding caterpillars. If you’re interested in heading to Costa Rica on a caterpillar hunting expedition, check out Lee Dyer’s Earthwatch expedition. They actually discover new caterpillars there every trip.
http://www.earthwatch.org/expeditions/dyer_costarica.html
October 7th, 2008 at 9:34 am
That is a cool Caterpillar!!!! I wish I had one!!! What kind is he/she ?? Faith
October 16th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
For what it’s worth, here’s the caterpillar id, courtesy of Grant Gentry.
I asked Grant to identify a number of caterpillars. I hope I haven’t mixed this one up!
This caterpillar is in the Lepidopteran family Apatelodidae. It is in the Genus Zanola (sp.) We aren’t sure of the species. Apatelodids are in the same superfamily as silk moths (Bombycidae), the Bombycoidea. Most Apatelodids are tropical, we have a very few species in the states.
March 8th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Hi Jim,
Hate to say this but the pic you have up is a Lycaenid (Hairstreak butterfly) that goes by the name Eumaeus godartii. The caterpillars feed in groups on Cycads and sequester cyanogenic glycosides from the cycad leaves. Filling themselves with cyanide containing compounds apparently is advantageous because they have few enemies. I have seen some groups preyed upon, I suspect stinkbugs. They are really amazing and large groups of 50 plus individuals are quite a sight! Before pupating the caterpillars are about an inch long, maybe a little more/less. The oddest thing about them to me is that you can SMELL them. They give on an old-tennis-shoes cyanide gas sort of smell. Now I am NOT claiming that they can release cyanide gas but many Lycaenid caterpillars do have glands that can release nectar and other substances so I wonder if these guys don’t release some sort of nasty coating to make biting them an unpleasant experience (cyanide is more or less temporarily paralytic when taken in sublethal does). Stinkbugs win again here because they don’t bite their prey, they spear them with their mouthparts and pump them full if digestive juices. Anyway, if my comment here has got you worried that you did mix up some ID’s please contact me and I will be happy to check look at any photos you care to send.
By the by. Rowan Travis Gentry was born on December 12th. He is doing quite well now and is learning how to sucker his parents into overlooking all manner of outrageous behaviour just by smiling at them. Kids learn this at the age of about 2-3 months apparently.
Best,
Grant
October 12th, 2009 at 8:00 am
I TO HAVE CATERPILLARS. I HAVE FIND OVER 50 SPECIES OF CATERPILLAR AND I HAVE SEIN A CATERPILLAR TO TURNING INTO A BUTERFLY.SORY WHEN I WRITE WAT FOLSE IM LIVE IN SLOVENIA IN EUROP NEAR ITALY AND AUSTRIA