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.