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Butterfly larvae, or caterpillars, consume plant leaves and spend practically all of their time searching for and eating food. Although most caterpillars are herbivorous, a few species are predators : Spalgis epius eats scale insects , [ 48 ] while lycaenids such as Liphyra brassolis are myrmecophilous , eating ant larvae.
Lepidoptera (/ ˌ l ɛ p ɪ ˈ d ɒ p t ər ə / LEP-ih-DOP-tər-ə) or lepidopterans is an order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths.About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organisms, [1] [2] making it the second largest insect order (behind Coleoptera) with 126 families [3] and 46 superfamilies ...
Caterpillars (/ ˈ k æ t ər p ɪ l ər / KAT-ər-pil-ər) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symphyta) are commonly called caterpillars as well.
The osmeterium normally remains hidden, but when threatened, the larva turns it outward through a transverse dorsal groove by inflating it with fluid. [2] The forked appearance in some of the swallowtails' hindwings, which can be seen when the butterfly is resting with its wings spread, gave rise to the common name swallowtail.
Manduca quinquemaculata, the five-spotted hawkmoth, is a brown and gray hawk moth of the family Sphingidae.The caterpillar, often referred to as the tomato hornworm, can be a major pest in gardens; they get their name from a dark projection on their posterior end and their use of tomatoes as host plants.
The queen butterfly (Danaus gilippus) is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae with a wingspan of 80–85 mm (3 + 1 ⁄ 8 – 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in). [3] It is orange or brown with black wing borders and small white forewing spots on its dorsal wing surface, and reddish ventral wing surface fairly similar to the dorsal surface.
With a wide geographic range throughout Central and North America, H. lineata is known to feed on many different host plants as caterpillars and pollinate a variety of flowers as adults. [4] [5] Larvae are powerful eaters and are known to form massive groupings capable of damaging crops and gardens. [5]
Caterpillars, are "characteristic polypod larvae with cylindrical bodies, short thoracic legs and abdominal prolegs (pseudopods)". [63] They have a toughened ( sclerotised ) head capsule, mandibles (mouthparts) for chewing, and a soft tubular, segmented body, that may have hair-like or other projections, three pairs of true legs, and additional ...