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The spiny caterpillars are striking in appearance, with black bodies and a line of eight reddish-orange dots running down the back (aposematic, warning coloration). The prolegs are dark red. The body is covered with short hairs and black spines and white dots. [2] The fully grown mourning cloak caterpillars attain two inches in length. [3]
The larvae are horned, spiny, black caterpillars with red markings, The pupal stage is green, with sharp, gold spines that can puncture predators. Malachites often are confused with the heliconiine Philaethria dido. They have similar coloration, but their wing shapes are different. [1]
Some caterpillars, like early instars of the tomato hornworm and tobacco hornworm, have long "whip-like" organs attached to the ends of their body. The caterpillar wiggles these organs to frighten away flies and predatory wasps. [18] Some caterpillars can evade predators by using a silk line and dropping off from branches when disturbed.
Excepting the pale yellow black-dotted apex, the forewing beneath uniformly reddish leather-yellow, with dispersed blackspots, which vary in number. The species though of wide distribution, has not developed into many races. [14] Caterpillars are about 25 mm long with a reddish-brown head and a spiny black body with small white dots. [13]
The first instar: Caterpillar larvae vary in size and are capable of being between 1.5-2.0mm in length. [3] At this stage a hatchling lacks its characteristic coloring and instead tends to be a translucent lime green with green or black tentacles and green protuberances along the skirt which lack the long spiny thorns that are seen in older ...
Citheronia laocoon fifth-instar caterpillar in Brazil. Saturniid caterpillars are large (50 to 100 mm in the final instar), stout, and cylindrical. Most have tubercules that are often also spiny or hairy. Many are cryptic in coloration, with countershading or disruptive coloration to reduce detection, but some are more colorful.
Parts of the U.S. are experiencing a significant spongy moth invasion this year. Here's how to tell if you have them in your yard and how to deal with them.
The shining cuckoo is one exception and will prey on the spiny caterpillar. The cuckoos tend to leave the skin, only eating the viscera of the caterpillar. If the skins are swallowed they are later disposed of in pellets covered with saliva. [4] One third of the caterpillars found in the stomach of shining cuckoos in a study were N. annulata. [20]