Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Adult flannel moths are stout-bodied, and very hairy. Females have thin antennae while males' are feather-like. Larvae are called puss caterpillars and, with their long hairs, resemble cotton balls. They are eaten by green lacewing insects and the Anolis lizards. They have venomous spines that can cause a painful sting and inflammation lasting ...
The female is slightly larger than the male in larva form, and as an adult finds a mate by extruding an organ that emits a pheromone which the male can smell. The male, which unlike the female has the large, feathered antennae characteristic of pheromone-using moths, flies zigzag search patterns, eventually homing in on a female.
Its consumption of toxic plants makes it distasteful to most predators. An exception is the smooth-billed ani (Crotophaga ani), which tears the caterpillar apart to eat it, avoiding the gut containing the plant material. The caterpillar is also coated in barbed urticating hairs, which stick deeply in skin and cause irritation. If caught, the ...
It is currently peak season for the puss caterpillars, and even though they usually live at a safe distance high up on tree branches, reports of people being stung are on the rise. The one-inch ...
Lonomia obliqua is a species of saturniid moth ("giant silk moth") from South America. [1] It is famous for its larval form, rather than the adult moth, primarily because of the caterpillar's defense mechanism, urticating bristles that inject a potentially deadly venom.
The bright colours of both the larvae and the moths act as warning signs, so they are seldom eaten by predators. An exception is among different species of cuckoo which eat hairy and poisonous caterpillars including cinnabar moth larvae. [3] Females can lay up to 300 eggs, usually in batches of 30 to 60 on the underside of ragwort leaves.
The holidays are a festive time of year. Homes are decorated for the season — Christmas trees, ornaments, poinsettias, and the like. And there are also plenty of holiday treats that are ...
As caterpillars, they tend to feed on a wide range of host plants. This includes oak, apple, birch, willow, hackberry, cherry and coniferous trees such as fir and spruce.